“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  – Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)

When I’m not hearing from God, I tend to blame God.  But if I am really honest, then many times it is because I am not seeking HIM with ALL my heart.  I am seeking Him but with my own agenda and my own interests.

That needs to change.

1.  Spend more time reading God’s word than man’s books.  (Note:  There’s nothing wrong with others’ books, but not at the neglect of scripture.)

2.  Spend more time seeking God’s will than my own.  (See #1)

3.  Cast clear vision.

4.  Foster an environment of trust & openness.

5.  Encourage fun and laughter (and initiate it often).

6.  Set aside family time and don’t let work invade that time (Yes, even if you’re in ministry.  I’ll talk more about this in another post.)

7.  Encourage the team around me & continually value the importance of us working together.

8.  Recognize I am not always right and encourage healthy discussions and disagreements.

9.  Create not only an “open door” policy, but an “open life” policy with accountability & checks/balances.

10.  Treat everyone with respect (team member, customer/client, & vendor).

What would you add to this list?

• Don’t…worship the worship leader.
• Don’t…demand entertainment.
• Don’t…mumble.
• Don’t…keep coming in late.
• Do…pray beforehand.
• Don’t…moan.
• Do…have an open mind.
• Don’t…just worship in church.
• Don’t…boycott.
• Do…worship.

Where I struggle is letting Jesus be Lord of the possible – the things that arise that I feel pretty capable of managing without any input from God.  When I think I have it all figured out or think that “I can handle this,” then I try to take control and be lord over that issue.

The problem with this is that Jesus needs to be Lord of EVERYTHING in our lives – the impossible AND the possible.  My sinful self will manage situations to my benefit and not to what God desires…so He needs to be in control all the time.

Having spent some time attending and volunteering at NewSpring, I have a pretty good idea of the volunteer culture they try to create and it was done extremely well yesterday.

NewSpring doesn’t just try to meet expectations, but seeks to go well beyond them.  Here are just a few examples.  Some of these may seem a little trivial, but it all goes together to create the experience.

• At least 15 people welcomed me BEFORE I ever stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the building.  This does not include the 10 or so people waving and welcoming me while I was driving to my parking space.
• There was mouthwash in the bathrooms.
• I got a water bottle out of one of the large ice buckets and someone wiped it off for me.
• I received a handwritten note (so did the rest of the 3500 people) from a volunteer thanking me for coming.
• There were volunteers EVERYWHERE.  I’m not sure what the ratio was, but it was much higher than any other conference I’ve ever attended.

Had only the minimum been done, it would have been a good experience.  But because of the mindset of taking the expectation at least one step further, it quickly became a great experience.

(FYI…these specific things are not necessarily taught or told to the volunteers.  They are just encouraged to take the expectation further and create a great experience.)

That set the tone for the day (and should every Sunday in our churches).  A potentially scary experience of a new place, the unknown of what to expect, etc. was quickly squelched by people who were genuinely friendly and excited about us being there.

Don’t get me wrong – the music, speaking, sessions were PHENOMENAL.  But those things were somewhat expected.  The volunteers made the difference.  Read that again:  the volunteers made the difference.

In your church (and ours), are the volunteers setting the stage for a great day?  Are they making the difference?  If not, how can we shift that?  What are some ideas you have?  Let us know.

I’m not going to tell you how old she is today (I’m not THAT dumb), but I can tell you she doesn’t look nearly as old as her birth certificate says she is.  I’m lucky to be loved by her and to get to spend my life with her.  She is an incredible woman.  If you see her or catch her on Twitter or Facebook, tell her “Happy Birthday.”

Happy birthday, sweetheart!  I love you!

Perseverance – Some of these athletes have had immense tragedy in their lives, even as late as this week, or have overcome incredible obstacles to get where they are today.  Yet they press on toward their goal.  How easy would it be for them to give up?  None of us would blame them – but they haven’t.

Attitude – I’ve witnessed some great sportsmanship (and some not so great) and positive attitudes, even after a loss or not quite reaching the coveted gold medal spot.  How much do we whine when things don’t go exactly as planned?

Balance – I have enjoyed seeing what else these athletes do in their spare time and that they have a life outside of the sport where they excel.  They aren’t so hyper-focused that they’ve lost sight of family or fun or other things.

You’re never too young (or old) to succeed. From teenagers to 40-ish, they haven’t listened to what the world tells them is their window of opportunity.

Selflessness – Even going head to head with someone from their own country, we’ve witnessed athletes laying down their pride to root for or congratulate their teammate.

Dedication – Many of them have spent their lifetime so far trying to reach this goal.  Why?  Because they’re passionate, driven, and love what they do.

What can we learn from this?  How can we apply it to our lives or our faith?  What are some lessons you have learned?  Go.

I’m also anticipating Freedom Fellowship on Sunday.  If you’re coming, great.  Now bring someone with you.  If you’re not coming, then why not?  Come on!  It’s going to be awesome.

Most of you know I have the incredible privilege of leading the music at Freedom.  I have to tell you – I’m consistently amazed at the incredible level of talent and lack of ego that our musicians have.  These men and women are true servants – bringing their talent to God to be used however He wants.  I have to be one of the most blessed worship leaders on the planet.  They are the best!

On another note, I’m not a big fan of the vinyl stickers that show how many people and pets you have in your household.  (If you have those on your car…well, I’m not hatin, I’m just sayin’.)  Anyway, I saw a car driving into downtown today that had those stickers but it only had a lady and then 4 cat stickers.  Ladies, if you’re single and you have 4 cats, don’t advertise that on I-385.  Again, I’m just sayin’.  I looked for the “Single Forever” sticker but didn’t see it.

Y’all have a great weekend.