Winners Verses Losers

Tara found this over at Eric's Blog today.., these are great words to live by! Thanks for sharing Eric!

1. When a winner makes a mistake, he says, "I was wrong."
When a loser makes a mistake, he says, "It wasn't my fault."
(A winner focuses on personal responsibility)

2. A winner makes commitments.
A loser makes promises.
(Focusing on integrity in relationships and following through)

3. A winner says, "I'm good but, not as good as I ought to be."
A loser says, "I'm not nearly as bad as other people."
(Focusing on Christ as the standard)

4. A winner tries to learn from those who are superior to him.
A loser tries to tear down those who are superior to him.
(Focusing on responding to learning from authority)

5. A winner says, "There ought to be a better way to do it."
A loser says, "That's the way it has always been done here."
(Focusing on fear instead of fear)

Be Blessed!
Craig

Funn With Ed and Joel

Gotta love it! C'mon all you leaders out there... you know we all have a Joel Osteen impression in us! Joel is a GREAT sport! Enjoy this little bit between Pastors Joel Osteen and Ed Young

"Big Things Come In Small Packages"

Have you ever heard the statement, be instant in season and out of season (Paul to Timothy)? Yesterday I learned firsthand, you have to be ready at all times. This past week I have been working on "Chicago's Largest Easter Egg Hunt" Eggstravaganza 2008. I was flat out tired Saturday night, I usually stay up late but being tired I went to bed early. When I woke up Sunday, I was still tired, and we were running a little behind in getting ready for the first service (I have 5 girls and a wife) and I live in house with all girls. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. When I first got up, I felt like I would be asked to preach in the first service (I ignored it!). Sure enough, the phone rang and I was asked to preach the first service. I am almost always ready, but because of my focus on the Eggstravaganza, this was one of the few times I wasn't.

I then had to make a choice, do I pull out something old (already memorized and rehearsed) or do I go with something fresh that God has been dealing with me about? I then had to take my family to the Church and when I got there I had about 30 minutes to prepare. I remembered that all my notes were at the office, so I drove to the office frantically to go to the office to look through my notes. To make a long story short, after all of this, I felt the Lord impress me to share out of my devotional time concerning "The Reward of Honor". I want to share a few of the thoughts that I shared.

* Many times God sends you what you need in a package you least expect.

* We place great priority on honoring God and our leaders which we should, but we have not done very well at honoring each other.

* Honor means to esteem or value highly.

* The greatest testing ground is not in the world it is in your own house, Jesus was not able to many miracles in His home town, in fact they said, "Is this not the carpenter's boy...

* Imagine everything they needed was standing right in front of them in the flesh of Jesus but because they could not perceive Him correctly they missed the very thing they were waiting for.

* Paul admonishes us to know no man after the flesh, and that when Christ died, we all died (2 Cor. 14-17), meaning that personality flaw, character flaw in that person that irritates you, that thing about your boss that you don't like died when Christ died. Inside of every vessel of clay there is a treasure and for you to draw out the treasure, you have to perceive me correctly, if you perceive me as regular Joe then that is all you will get. Paul also said, that in my flesh is no good thing. I must perceive you after your anointing (1 John 2:20).

* Everyone who has received Jesus Christ as their saviour has a flesh nature and a God nature. The people in Jesus hometown perceived Him after His flesh nature thereby limiting the anointing that was in Him. The scripture says, He could not do many miracles there, not He would not. He was willing but they did not perceive Him properly (Mark 6:1-6).

* In the Church we often strive for the person with the microphone to get them to lay hands on us. We put a high value on the visible parts of the body, but scripture tells us that God puts higher value on the less visible parts (1 Cor. 12:22). For example, I can do without my hair (I don't have any), toenails, and even a finger or two. Those are the visible parts, what you see. I can't do without my liver which you don't see. This tells us just because someone is visible does not mean they are more important. The greeter that opens the door for you and gives you a bulletin, the person who does the sound check, turns the volume up or down is less visible but just as important. (try preaching in a large crowd without a sound man)

I remember when me and my wife planted a Church and we had to preach, greet the people, clean the restroom, set up and tear down, take up the offering... I realize more than ever that if the less visible parts don't do what they do, then I can't do what I do. Let me illustrate this.

Let' say that Sally receives a report from the doctor that she has cancer and she only has three months to live. She rushes to the Church on Sunday so that she can get the pastor to lay hands on her, she rushes past Jim the greeter, who in fact has the anointing for healing that she needs so that she can get the pastor to pray for her. Let's try another example.

Let's say Sally gets the report from the doctor and calls the Church. The pastor sends the elders (pastoral staff and deacons) to anoint her with oil. She gets mad and says, I don't want Joe the elder, I want the Pastor. Because she didn't perceive Joe properly she dies. She perceives Joe by his activity which is carrying the Pastor's briefcase. God placed the healing she needed in Joe. But because she percieves Joe by his activity, she misses the healing that she needs that is in Joe.

Paul admonishes us to discern the body properly and because some are not, they are weak, sick, and dead (1 Cor. 11:29-30). He is not talking about wafers and juice, he is talking about properly discerning the body (we are called the body of Christ). We must learn to properly discern each other. There is something in you I need!

Lastly, we often perceive someone by their activity (what they do). If their activity is not what we want (title and position) we miss the treasure God placed in them for us. That's why whenever I see someone doing menial tasks I greet them and thank them for their faithfulness. Why? Because big things come in small packages. I listen to what they have to say.

I have received more timely words of encouragement from people that others may consider insignificant than I have from "mighty men of God". In fact anytime I am around someone who is faithful in small things, I recognize God has placed big things in them. So next time you enter your Church, business or school, why don't you stop and honor those who are less visible, who knows they may contain the solution, miracle, answer that you need. Lets' learn to honor one another.
*

GO FOR IT!

In this blog I want to deal briefly with a couple of thoughts. Both of these were things that other great leaders challenged me in.

1)The thing that makes you different from everyone else is the thing that makes you powerful.

This reality is equally comforting and challenging.
Comfort: There is no pressure for me to fit in. (What a relief it is to be able to be me.)
Challenge: The culture of carbon copy makes it hard for me to boldly stand out.

One of my favorite verses is in 1 Peter 2:9-10, it tells us that we are chosen, royalty, called out, and peculiar generation. The word peculiar means to be different like two shoes that are completely different. It is those who discover their unique factor, that thing that separates them from everybody else that makes them impacting.Those who insist on being similar to the point of blending into the background are ignored. Here is what one pastor who pastors one of the fastest growing Churches in America in Charlotte, North Carolina recently said.

Juno wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award because it was just like the other movies…it was recognized because it was different. Quirky.

Kurt Cobain didn’t spark an entire musical movement because Nevermind sounded just like all the other albums of the early nineties. His legacy was his uniqueness.

I didn’t marry my wife because she was just like the other girls. I married her precisely because she was an anomaly.

It’s too bad that our educational systems (and more specifically, our Bible colleges and seminaries) are typically focused on mass producing mediocrity rather than custom designing excellence.

As for you: if you ever put your finger on what makes you different-maybe even a little bit strange- you’ve just discovered the reason you were born. And you’re well on your way to greatness.

Society is not attracted to sameness, yet the Church celebrates sameness. They sing the same songs, do the same rituals, and dress alike and then expect everyone to be like them. Cloning didn't start with science it started in the Church. We are not called to conform but transform and you can't transform if you are trying to be like everybody else. This comes with a warning label: If you are different, you will be criticized, frowned upon, and persecuted, but know this, what is different about about reveals a side of God that others have never seen. I am asking God to help me discover and deploy the uniqueness of my life.

2) Making your life count.

* God is challenging me to make my life count for something, I don't want to die never having accomplished something great. The richest place in the world is not Fort Knox, it is the graveyards. There lies unwritten songs, history unfulfilled, stories never told and great exploits never done. I don't want to die with greatness still inside of me. I want to go for it! Take risk, dream big, reach for the impossible, and step out of normality and sameness. Jesus Christ didn't die for me to be average, He died for me to make my life count!

* As I evaluate my life I realize I have played it safe. One of my Mentors challenged years ago with this statement, "If what you have in your hands is enough to accomplish your dream, it is not a God dream". In other words if you can do it without God's supernatural intervention, then you need to evaluate whether your dream is from God or not. I was born to do something great, something never done. One leader challenged me today, to take the limits off, think outside the box, do like Abraham who went out not knowing where he was going. God told him to leave his country, his people, and his father's house and go to the land I will show you. I can imagine Abraham asking God, "Where am I going". God answered I will tell you when you get there.

Most of us want God to show us and then we will go, but God told Abraham go and I will show. Step out in faith, do something that will require God's help, GO and God will SHOW! If you will step out God will rock your world!

"FINISH IT!"

Characteristics of Great Leaders

1) Start with the end in mind.

Luke 14:25-34

Most people in the world today when recruiting people for their team, will advertise the benefits, the accommodations, the extravagance, the blessings of being as part of the team. Jesus attracted His team by describing the cost of being with Him, in fact at one time he said, can you eat my flesh and drink my blood? There is something about not finishing that discredits a leader or for that matter anyone. We see marriages that are not finishing, ministries that are not finishing, families that are not finishing. We live in a world that says, if things get rough, get you another wife... Jesus begins to admonish His followers that if you are going to finish you must count the cost, you must start with the end in mind. Can you go all the way with me? Will you still be with me when things get difficult, have you thought out what finishing will require of you, what will it cost you? Here are some principles that He teaches us to help us finish well, after all it is not how you start, it is how you finish.

* Finishing requires that I love Him more than anything else. He actually says, if you don't hate your momma (hate my momma, I will sock anybody that says something about my momma!). In other words if you love and value anything more than me, you will not finish with me.

* verse 31, He tells us that when you go to war, the odds will be stacked against you. You know you are anointed for greatness, when the odds are stacked against you. The greater the battle, the greater the reward. You can tell the size of your future by the size of your opposition. If you are going to finish you must know that all hell will try to stop you! If you can be denied, you will be, if you can be stopped, you will be. You must determine that you are unstoppable.

* Salt if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is not even fit for the manure pile. God has put you in that hostile environment to sprinkle you as salt there. You are light that is assigned to darkness. God puts you in the most adverse environment not so that you can leave but so you can change it! God has enough confidence in you that he trusted you with that carnal job. You are anointed to change it.

One of my spiritual fathers once told me on my wedding day a powerful statement that has stayed with me my entire life. He said "The will of God will never take you, where the grace of God won't keep you". In other words if God's grace comes on you, it is the place of your assignment, if you can take it and keep smiling then it is the place. If there is no grace for the place, then pray about where God's place of grace is for you. You can be in lions den but grace will shut the mouth of the lions.

Lastly, I was privileged to attend a network meeting online recently. The speaker who leads one of the fastest growing Churches in America, said something that impacted me. He said, "I would never tell my sons to plant a Church the way I did, I did not have clue what I was doing, but one thing me and my wife had was resolve". He later went on to say that the secret to their success was that before they started, they determined that they would die for that city, that there was no turning back, they would stay there until they got their breakthrough. Fifteen years ago they didn't have half the books, conferences, and information that we have today, but one thing they had was resolve, a determination that come hell or high water, they would finish. If people leave, we will finish, if people criticize, we will finish, if we are not popular we will finish. Why? Because the price of popularity is conformity, but the price of greatness is a determination to finish.

No matter what you are going through, I want to help you get your second wind, you can finish it. If there is no grace for that place, God will provide a way of escape (exit). Let's finish it!

Tomorrow, I will share on the regret of not finishing and two kinds of pain.

It's Your Serve!

I want to thank all of you that have requested that this blog be emailed to you. We have been swarmed with request. Send me your comments, I love reading them. What is really cool about blogging is that I can see where the blog is being read. There are people reading this blog in different nations. How cool!

Once again I want to share a lesson I have learned in studying great leaders. Bishop Tony Miller who is one of the greatest leaders I have ever known did a teaching years ago while I was on staff in Florida. Here is what he not only taught me but he lives by example even today.

* There is only one position open in the Kingdom, not apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, or evangelist, the only position available is servant.

* God refers to Moses my servant, Joshua my servant. God is not impressed with our prophet card. I have been to conferences when someone approached me with a business card saying, "I am a prophet..." No, that is not who you are, that is your function. If you have to tell me that you are anointed, you probably aren't. You don't have to tell me, all I have to do is watch you, and what you do will tell me who you are.I am first and foremost a son who serves. You put your pants on the same way I do. You brush your teeth just like I do (at least I hope you do)

* There are two doors of access in the Kingdom, 1) Faith towards God 2) Service to men, in fact you can serve your way anywhere.

* The Father affirmed and accommodated Jesus before he ever performed one miracle, or preached one sermon. The Father is pleased with who you are ,not your performance. Your identity is not based on where you work, or what ministry you lead, it is based on who you are, a son of the most high God. Even if you lose your job, you still are a King's kid! When you discover who you are, they can take your stuff, but you will get it back in multiplied form.

* The greatest fear of religion is that you will discover who you are. The religious leaders attempted to stone Jesus, they said, we do not stone you for what you do, but for who you claim to be (John 10:31-33). Hell fears your discovery of your identity in Christ. Religion always desires to lower the level of your life to the level of your experience.

* Jesus was able to serve rather than be served because He knew what He had, where He had come from and where He was going (John 13:1-16). Those who become too great to serve are insecure in who they are, they don't know who they are, where they are from, and what they have.. Jesus said those who are greatest in the Kingdom are servants.

* I am learning that I don't have to have the approval of men to know who I am, God is pleased with me. In fact when I serve someone I can look past who they are, because I am serving Christ (Col. 3:23-24). Christ means the anointing. I can look past their flaws and weaknesses because I am serving the anointing which is a multiplier.

* How you serve where you are will determine how others will serve you. When I was Church planting I never lacked for people to serve me because of my faithfulness to serving Bishop Tony Miller for over 15 years. The greatest season of my life was when I was able to serve under Him. I was under the flow of anointing.

* The greatest flow of anointing is not at the top but at the bottom. The woman with the issue of blood crawled through the crowd and reached for the the edge of His garment (Mark 5). I was reading this one day when I asked myself a question, Why did she grab the edge of the garment, why didn't she grab his head, or the arm? The light switch came on, I realized she didn't grab the edge of the garment randomly, she had read over in Malachi (Mal. 4:2). The word wing in the Hebrew is edge of the garments. When King David was anointed the prophet poured the oil on top of his head and it would run all the way down to the bottom of the garment, the greatest consecration of oil was not at the head but at the bottom of the garment. David later wrote that the anointing flows from the head (Christ) to the beard (Elder ship), to the edge of the garments (body life), and there God commands the blessing! It actually reads, there is where the greatest release of blessing will be.

Here is what I am saying, the greatest anointing will not come from individuals in the pulpit but it will come from servants who discover who they are and they rise from the obscurity of the pews. It is not going to be superstars but it will be unknown servants who will see God's power and anointing in a dimension that we have never known. In the gospels and the book of Acts over 80% of the miracles and signs and wonders took place outside the temple. Why? Because God does not dwell in temples made by hands but He lives in vessels of clay, desiring that Christ in you becomes the hope (manifestation) of Glory (Authority and Power). You don't need a title, you don't need a position, you don't need the approval of men, all you need to do is discover who you are and begin to serve right where you are. In fact , the reason you are where you are is because you are anointed to change it! That's why you are working in that ungodly dark place. They can take your position, your job, but they can not take who you are. If you know who you are, when they get done taking all the stuff, God will restore it to you in multiplied form.

You have been chosen to change the atmosphere!

It's your serve!

Gourmet Chefs But Terrible Eaters

I was privileged to attend a meeting this evening in which Pastor Wayne Cordeiro from Hawaii was sharing. Needless to say I was challenged and provoked. He shared a story of when a member in his Church came to him and told him he was leaving because he was not getting fed. If I could get a dollar for every time a Pastor has heard this statement, I would be a millionaire. Pastor Cordeiro replied with a question, how long have you been saved? After the man said 18 years. Pastor Cordeiro said, if my son who is 28 years old was still depending on me to feed him, he would be shriveled up to nothing. By now he should be able to feed himself.

How many Christians depend on one service a week for somebody to feed them? Yes, I do believe that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, but as my spiritual father Bishop Tony Miller says, you can't live off another man's nickle. How many Christians are driving around in circles waiting for a meter that someone else has deposited their nickle in? Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. In other words you don't just need someone to break bread with you, you need a word out of God's mouth, a word that is just for you. God wants us to grow up into maturity where we are not like a baby that refuses to be weaned even though she is no longer a baby but a child. I am OK with giving baby Christians milk but what I have a hard time with is having to part the mustache to get the milk bottle in.

Here is where God challenged me. Most preachers are great gourmet chefs but they are lousy eaters. We know how to cook a great meal once or twice a week for our congregation but we don't feed ourselves on a daily basis. Bishop Tony Miller has said many times that the width or breath of your ministry is determined by the depth of your devotional life and if you have lost your devotional time you will eventually lose your ministry. Many of us are a mile wide but only three inches deep.God doesn't intend for you to live out of the bottom of the barrel, He intends for you to live the overflowing life out of your abiding relationship with him. He said various times in the gospels if you abide in me I will abide in you and in John 15, He said unless you abide in me, you can do nothing. Without His annointing on our lives we can accomplish absolutely nothing!

I afraid that much of the powerlessness in our pulpits is a result of living off another preachers nickle rather than getting your own nickle. Our primary call is to first be with Jesus (Mark 3:13) and then He can send us out with the deposit that He has placed in us in your times with Him. If there has been no deposit there can be no withdrawal and if you continue to live out of the bottom of the barrel you will eventually break down. Nothing great will happen around you or for you, until it happens in you. Your life on the outside is mirror of what is in you. That's why I believe that there are more preachers leaving the ministry than there are entering the ministry. They have gotten way from their daily time with the master.

Pastor Cordeiro shared about how he met a great jazz musician who shared with him how people would come up to him asking him how did you become a great musician? The musician told them that he was only as good as his daily practice on the scales. he said if I practice one hour a day a week, I will know the difference, if I practice one hour a week, the world will know the difference. Why? Because true greatness comes out of living in the overflow of your daily routine. I told Pastor Cordeiro that he had challenged me to spend more time in God's presence and less time trying to live off the residue of someone else's experience with God. I don't know about you, but I want the overflowing life, so that when I walk into a room, the atmosphere is changed without me even saying anything. I want to be able to say less and impact more because the anointing makes me better than I really am. I will share later some practical things you can do to develop a devotional life.