Off the Shelf

Avoiding the "What If" Trap

A friend of mine did something last week and was amazed that she had not done it before. To paraphrase her words, "It was so simple, what kept her from just doing it some time ago?"

My suggestion was the "what if...?" trap.

We get so caught up in this kind of limited thinking and bottom line, it can paralze us from moving forward and doing what we've been called to do. It can stop us from simple tasks to moving forward with power and vision.

What if I lose my job?

What if Washington goes broke?

What if I fail?

What if people criticize me?

What if I break something?

What if, what if what if...? it's a trap.

We can think ourselves into inaction or mediocrity if we let the "what if...?" trap take over our minds and hearts.

David inspires me to think differently in Psalm 27:

[What, what would have become of me] had I not believed that I would see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living! Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord. (Amplified Version)

David believed. He wasn't hopelessly caught up in the "what if...? "trap. Hopelessness is terrible and instead David chose to have a stout and enduring heart. He wasn't giving up on his vision, He was trusting God. He was believing, not analyzing.

He didn't look at what could happen, he chose to believe that God's goodness would prevail in spite of all the "what ifs" that faced him. He chose to wait, hope and expect the Lord to bring all things (mistakes and victories) together for His good.

Avoiding a Post-Red Sea Letdown

I love reading about the crossing of the Red Sea. Can you imagine it? Here’s this large natural boundary parting and you walk or run across it? The movie, The Prince of Egypt, if my favorite depiction. You can see the fish swimming in the sea, but being held back as this wall of water is towering above the people. The path is even dry. God takes care of every detail. What a triumph of faith.

But what happens after the Red Sea moment?

It didn’t take the Israelites long to forget it. They rumbled and grumbled. They saw giants in the land God promised them instead of opportunity. They hated the food, they were ready to go back into slavery. Sadly, they are not alone.

You can search Scripture and discover many similar patterns. Elijah sees God perform incredible miracles and then runs away and feels a loss of faith. The great warrior David hides in the enemy camp. He’d seen God do such wonders in his life, but he lost his focus. He forgot the many “Red Sea Crossings”  he’d experienced.

Unfortunately I’m not any better. God works out so much for me. He orders my steps. I see His provision, His kindness, His forgiveness, His blessing and His power. He sets me on dry land and He holds back the waters, yet, instead of remembering and resting in the Red Sea afterglow, I sometimes forget. I fall into the same trap as the Israelites, Elijah, David and many others.

Psalm 62:8 comes to mind, “Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us (a fortress and a high tower). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! From the Amplified Bible.

How do I stay focused on God and not have post Red Sea letdown? I need to marinate in the presence of God and dwell in Him. I need to have confidence in HIM all the time, not just when I'm crossing the Red Sea. It’s simple. When I’m focused on Him, I don’t forget. David, Elijah and the Israelites took their eyes from God and put them on circumstances or emotions or thoughts. They pushed out the Red Sea moment and allowed negativity or doubt or pride or despair take its place.

We overcome Red Sea letdown when we choose to focus on Him and confidently trust, rely, lean on and  dwell in Him. He occupies our mind, instead of the noise of emotions, thoughts and fears.

How about you? How do you keep rightly focused and avoid Red Sea letdown?

Thinking Abundantly

It's interesting to me that a few days ago Showtime changed its deal with Netflix and now Starz is following suit. Last Thursday, the pay TV channel said it would no longer put its original content on Netflix the day after it runs on the channel. Now it will wait three months. Starz also said it would eventually do the same with the theatrical movies it carries. The moves from Showtime and Starz come after Netflix made its first foray into original programming, making the company even more of a competitor.

Is this thinking about the customer? Or thinking abundantly? I don't think so.

Years ago Steven Covey introduced us to abundant thinking. More recently Seth Godin has polished the concept to bring it to not just leadership, but marketing and products as well.

These announcements seem like a "hoarding" mentality. One that is restrictive. One that isn't customer focused, but rather, "self focused." The companies are asking, "What's best for us?" rather than "What's best for our customer?"

John 10:10 also talks about abundant life. It reminds us, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Jesus's words are a stark contrast to a hoarding mentality. He brings to us not just forgiveness and hope, but an opportunity to live an abundant life. The word implies "well beyond." It's a life well beyond the normal, well beyond anything we've seen or lived. But, we have to also read verse 11.

Jesus continues and says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for His sheep."

The essence of God's abundance lies in His sacrifice. It's not about what Jesus can "do" for us, it's what He "did" for us, at the cross.

When we understand that, then we can begin to understand His incredible, matchless love for us and then we can fully see His promise for an abundant life. It's not possessions, it's His love and character working through us and in us every day. That's abundance.

 

What do you think?

 

Stuck in the Middle

Several years ago Stealers Wheel recorded a hit song, "Stuck in the Middle with You." Part of the lyric went, "Clowns to the left of me; Jokers to the right; Here I am, stuck in the middle with you." It's an anthem to so many ideas, goals and projects.

Many times an idea launches with fanfare and celebration. The team is excited. Things start happening. The "change" word is bandied about. Plans are set in place. It all looks so good.

Then, in the middle, something happens. The project, the goal, get stuck. Whether it's bureaucracy, circumstances, or the temptation of that hot fudge sundae, we slow down. We're suddenly people in the quicksand of the middle. The emotional rah-rah is lost, we can't see the end goal for trying and the energy for it all just slowly disappears.

The Israelites suffered in the middle. The former slaves were heading to the promised land. Everything looked great. Seas parted, food reigned down from heaven and God was showing them the way. But, for some reason, they got stuck in the middle. An eleven-day journey took 40 years to complete and the original "team" never did make it.

If any group "had it all" it was this group. If any group should have easily made the goal, hit the target or finished, it was this group.

So what happened and what can we learn so we don't get stuck?

The people lacked vision. In spite of all that Moses did and said, the people lacked vision. This is seen clearly when the 12 come back from spying out the promised land. The people preferred to be negative while Joshua and Caleb saw plenty, the other ten saw disaster and the people clung to the negative. They lost vision. They were so lost they wanted to go back to the way things were - slavery.

They had unbelief. Their lack of vision led to unbelief. It's a horrible cycle for a team to begin. Lack of vision leads to doubt that leads to unbelief. "This is too hard" "Why did we ever start this" "It doesn't make sense". "The numbers don't work".

They were disobedient. God set a clear path before them and yet they strayed from it. They let their own pride, desire and plan get in the way of a perfect plan engineered by God.

As leaders we need to battle the fatigue of the middle. As the ceremony of the beginning wanes, we need to consistently communicate the vision. Our people must never lose sight of the "why". We must coach them through unbelief. When things start going the wrong way, we must discern if this is just an obstacle or a stop sign. If it's just an obstacle, we need to help our people go back to vision and the anticipated end result (the promised land).

Letting the middle get in the way will slow or stop any progress or growth. People think they are doing fine just by getting near the goal. Excellence gets reduced to acceptable. Mediocrity is just a breath away.

Letting Doubt Destroy Your Vision

Vision is a wonderful thing. It sets our path, it guides us and keeps us going when things get tough. All of us should have a vision or guiding purpose that's the reason for why we do what we do. It's a passion and a calling.

Sometimes our vision gets blurred. Many times it's because we allow doubt to overtake us.

Doubt is subtle. It's a wavering between hope and fear. When we hear criticism or hit large or small obstacles, there's doubt raising it's head and we're caught in the middle. We "hope" to move on, but we "fear" at the same time. 1 Kings 18:21 reminds us, "How long will you halt and limp between two options?" How long indeed. The more we're stuck in the middle the more frustrated we feel and many times, we give up.

Or, we're stuck. We're distracted from our vision, our passion, and our calling.

Doubt is not natural. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans, [every man has] a "measure of faith." We have faith in our hearts that drives our vision and then doubt comes and our faith is covered up. It fogs the window of our passion and vision.

I love how Abraham dealt with doubt. In Genesis 17, God comes to Abram (soon to be Abraham). He's ninety-nine years old and his wife is ninety! God reminds him of the covenant and that He will, "multiply you [Abram] exceedingly." God's telling Abram, "Hold on, you and Sarah are gonna have kids just like I told you before." God goes on to say, "I will make you exceedingly fruitful."

Abraham/Abram had been given a promise by God. Many years had come and gone and there still wasn't a child. Abraham, however didn't let doubt into his vision. I'm sure he was regularly attacked with it, but he stood firm. Paul writes about Abraham, "He grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He promised."

Doubt is a choice. We can pick it up, or we can, like Abraham, choose to trust, be satisfied where we are and know that the vision given to us is clear. We can set our mind to believe that when doubt creeps in, something is wrong and we need to fall back on our passion and vision instead of letting fear and no hope invade our thoughts.

Let it Rise - Review of Holland Davis' Book for Pastors

Let me say up front - Holland Davis is a friend. I've always appreciated his heart for ministry and his ability to lead worship. He's a gifted and talented man who seeks God in all he does.

It was thrilling to receive a copy of his book and I read it quickly. It kept my attention and made me think.

Let is Rise if a manual for worship. It not only does a great job talking about worship, but the book also explores how senior pastors and worship leaders can work more effectively together - and he's right on.

Here are some quotes I found interesting:

• Many ministries suffer because vision isn't communicated and those who are called to serve alongside the PASTOR don't understand where they are going and how to get there.

• The secret to success is to create an environment for reflection and failure. The worship environment is no different. We want to be able to ask tough questions so that we can know if we are effectively releasing the congregation to worship.

• We think we are making music the minute we start playing. Truth is we are just making noise. It doesn't become music until every musician's eye is not on the chart, but on each other and the congregation.

• The congregation will be as vulnerable as you are willing to be.

There are many more and Holland's ability to encourage and teach is tremendous.

The book is also not just your typical typeset trade book. The interior designer, did a tremendous job of making the book unique and special.

I recommend this book to all church leaders, pastors and obviously worship leaders.

Farewell Thomas Nelson

Last Friday was my last day at Thomas Nelson. I can still remember Sam Moore, during a conversation in his office, saying, "Hire him!" That was six years ago and the beginning of what I believe to be a calling from God and unbelievable privilege to work with a team of committed people who want to help people find's Gods voice through His word. I'm humbled and deeply grateful for my time there.

We were able to develop some incredible products and concepts over the last six years:

Million Bible Challenge. We all thought that the goal of 1 million Bibles in twelve months was staggering. Little did we know that between Nelson, retailers and local churches we'd surpass that goal in FIVE MONTHS. To date, I think nearly six million of these Bibles have been given away. Incredible.

Word of Promise. When Carl Amari came to us with this idea we were excited and thrilled to have him as a partner. After an incredible launch of the New Testament two years ago this multi-award-winning product came alive again this year with the release of the full Bible. Over 600 actors, award winning score, 5.1 sound. At times we felt like we were docking the Queen Mary, but the team pulled it all together and it's a certified best selling product that gives people a new way to experience God's word.

Chronological Study BIble. This idea was a combination shower idea and retail experience. When I presented the concept to the team, they dug deep and developed a beautiful, 4-color product that's been at or near the top of best-seller lists since its release a little over a year ago. Like Word of Promise and many other of our products, it served as another way for people to seek and discover God's word through a unique and different format.

Felt Need Merchandising. This was an inside and outside team challenge.  My retail experience combined with Barna research and the folks at cult branding developed a system that helps customers find bibles by how they want to shop, instead of terms they don't understand. Nelson's Bible marketing and sales teams did the rest and most every retailer who adopted the system experienced double-digit growth. Not bad.

Expanded Bible. Yet another shower idea that the team took to a new level. I knew many people who used the Amplified Bible, yet the base translation is dated. The scholar team led by Trempor Longman helped us develop an outstanding alternative that not only has alternate meanings, but helps the reader understand culture, other uses of the words, context and much more. I'm excited to see the full Bible.

The Voice. Perhaps the freshest and most intriguing translation of the BIble in many years. The Voice works from the original manuscripts and, unlike most Bibles, keeps the text in the original "voice" of the writer. It is typeset in screen play format for easy reading during worship and presents compelling commentary and help for the reader. It's truly a partnership between artist and scholar and the final work received rave reviews. 

The authors. What a privilege to work with Max Lucado, John MacArthur, John Maxwell, Charles Stanley, Henry Blackaby and other pastors and teachers. These men of God truly love God's word and helping others discover it.

There were other products, milestones and campaigns that we accomplished. Each one designed to help people find God's voice more easily and more directly.

I'll miss working with this team of professionals (sorry, I'd list names, but know I'd forget someone, you know who you are and you know your contribution).

God's called me to a new chapter in my life. I feel as strongly as I did six years ago of that calling. Since 1992 my life mission has been to put life changing materials into the hands of people who need them and I appreciate Thomas Nelson giving me an opportunity to continue that mission through the BIble Group.

The Voice Translation - Recapturing the Bible's Oral Tradition

This past week it was my privilege to speak at the East Coast Worship Conference in Pennsylvania. The conference asked me to do a keynote address on leadership and I also led a Workshop on our new Bible translation, The Voice.

I'll post my leadership keynote at another time.

What I want to share was the fantastic experience of the workshop. Before jumping into it, let me give you some context.

The BIble, before King James, before Gutenberg,and other pioneers of the printed page, survived mainly by the tradition of reading Scripture aloud. There are several references, for example, of Jesus reading Scripture in the Temple. Yes, it was captured on a scroll, but the main way people experienced the Bible was through hearing it, not reading it. Even after the printing press began churning out the Bible, the oral tradition of Scripture continued for centuries as books were expensive and the common family just could not afford one and the liturgy of most churches set aside time for reading Scripture aloud to the whole assembly.

In today's world we have a proliferation of printed Bible products in every size, shape and price. And we have a significant change in the liturgy of many churches that excludes that appointed time allotted for the specific reading aloud of the Sacred Text (sometimes in concert with a Lexionary and sometimes just as a focus where the whole congregation stands for the reading of the Word). Both of these changes have been made at the sacrifice of the oral experience of the Bible.

The Bible is a powerful book and there's no experience like hearing it read. "The Word of Promise: New Testament Audio Bible" (Thomas Nelson) is an example of how the audio presentation can knock your socks off.

The Nelson team created The Voice translation with this perspective in mind. Specifically, the screen-play format, the linguistic and historical information included in italics, and the contextualization that is present in the commentary makes The Voice ideal for public reading and understanding.

So, in our Workshop this week we created an impromptu reading of Scripture using The Voice. We gave some attendees selected parts as they entered the workshop and we read four separate passages from Scritpure. It was amazing as we together experienced the Word by hearing it. We heard so many positive comments and every reader realized the ease of doing this and the positive effect it had.

So I encourage you to think about using The Voice in this way. Reading it out loud is unique and will impact your congregation or small group. Plus, because of how it's formatted readers will not feel intimidated or confused. It all comes together nicely.

Technorati Tags: Books, Experience, The Voice