Coffee, a Bible, and a Napkin to Scribble On
Moses, Joshua, Jesus Take off your shoes (download)
The sound quality of this is a little scratchy, but the content is really good. I forget where I did this, maybe when I was Pastor at the Evansville Rescue Mission.
In this blurb, I talk about times when people in the Bible took off their shoes. There were certain things going on with them, going on with the Lord, and going on with the nation of Israel and God’s people.
Check it out, I hope it helps you appreciate the Lord and the Bible more.
Numbers 10:
33 So they set out from the mount of the Lord three days’ journey. And
the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days’
journey, to seek out a resting place for them.34 And the cloud of the
Lord was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.35 And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and let
your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before
you.”36 And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the ten
thousand thousands of Israel.”
As Israel wanders in the desert, it’s another part of the Bible where actual historical events are happening and in a bigger picture it’s a forecast of our life in Christ.
Here are half a million people, wandering towards a destination that they have heard of but not visited. They are led by a god that they are still becoming acquainted with.
Then comes this line
“The ark of the covenant of the Lord when before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them.” Numbers 10:33
At the last supper, Jesus told the disciples,
“There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you. And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too.” John 14:2-3 NET
So Jesus is going ahead of us, to prepare a place for us, just like the ark of the covenant went three day’s journey ahead of the Israelites to seek out a resting place for them! Oh yes, and Jesus was in the grave for how many days? Three. Three days ahead of us to prepare a resting place for us in an unknown land.
And there is one more cool bit. He didn’t leave the Israelites alone and unprotected. The ark didn’t go on without them with nothing left behind to guide them.
There was a pillar of fire in the night and a pillar of smoke and clouds during the day. It says that this was their protection and their guide as they traveled. It is also referred to as the Presence of the Lord.
On the day of Pentecost, God sent His Holy Spirit onto the disciples and it looked like fire. From then on those that believe in Jesus, that have left their life of unbelief (like the Hebrews left Egypt) are filled with the Holy Spirit to guide them and protect them as they go through life!
So here it is, like so many other places in Numbers, where the entire Christian life is laid out. Jesus has gone before us, God the Father oversees us and guides us, and the Holy Spirit is within and among us.
Leadership is more than being motivating. Courage, inspiration, people skills are all good.
Influence is the new currency that trumps authority.
people spend 3 billion hours a week playing video games
1 in 34 in the United States are incarcerated
Worldwide obesity has doubled since 1980
smoking droppped from 44% in the 50s to 21% in 2008
All of these changes happen because of influence. Maybe intentional influence, maybe not.
There is a reason people are moving from pews to video games
80% of people know a christian
15% see anything different in the Christians' behavior
Whenever the word BARNA comes up, you're gonna get a butt whoopin.
A woman in Nairobi (Jane), her only job choice was the sex trade. She worked with tourists first, but then had several children and had to work for locals close to home because of childcare. She worked for $0.25 a gig for locals.
There are 800,000 women like her in Nairobi.
What if there is something we could help her do once a week that would improve her life completely?
They did a study, and of all the kids that were able to earn $40 or buy insanely overpriced candy, the average kid left with $13.
When asked why, the kids didn't know! They couldn't explain what had happened!
| |Motivation|Ability|
|personal |gave the kids a bite of their favorite candy| no training
|Social| They planted tempters|
|structural| they went on credit, instead of cash in hand|they had posters hanging with kids enjoying candy
When they took away those things, the average kid left with $34!!
Influence affected these kids over 200%
wallpaper, kids saying they wanted to save, cash in hand, 200%
Good things feel like struggle, sacrifice, and effort. The bad things always feel good and desirable.
Our mission as an influencer is the make the bad stuff feel bad, and the good stuff feel good. Halloween guy that put a sign up that said, "What would batman eat?" made 50% of kids take an apple instead of candy. Before that 91% of kids took the candy.
As an influencer, we control the frame.
don't teach principles, connect to people's values.
Frame specific daily decisions in specific activities and specific goals.
You can overcome an impulse just by framing a goal. People put more money into a "new roof account" than they put into a "savings" account.
10 year old girl Zia on a 40 meter ski jump. That was a great video. She called it a long 20 and went for it!
The greatest influencers start with Ability instead of motivation.
Joshua spent 40 years with Moses before he led the people.
Moses spent 40 years with Pharoah learning to be a ruler.
The practice setting must approximate the real world. If we are going to train folks, we have to train them in reality, not in a church, which is not in reality.
Learn to shift your focus on critical moments. Focus on the long term goal, not the power of the impulse.
HOV lanes for 2 or more people. Within weeks, 1 out of 5 people were cheating. They put up a sign that said, "Report HOV violations: 921-HERO"
If you got called out, you got a letter.
The number of lane violators dropped 80% in weeks.
It's no longer a time or economic decision, it becomes a social decision.
Use Ability and Motivation and keep people in their social setting. Social influence, influence among your peers and friends, is a more powerful force than our own self discipline.
Lady that makes chicken head protein pez things on the street. She knows economics and knows how to measure her progress, and she's jamming.
What if we did a micro-credit thing at the mission??
Learn to take apart influence problems. Break them down into the 3 blocks.
Just a sign saying "burn 7 calories" influenced a lot of people to take the stairs.
space, data, cues, tools, processes, and other environtment factors.
Are the comfortable chairs by the video games or by the reading lights?
Are the healthy foods easy to grab in the fridge or on the counter next to the chips?
Make good choices easier and more obvious!
Make bad choices harder and more concious!
When we use all 6 factors of influence, the change goes up 1000%
If you want to change the world, lose influence.
"Dear God! when did a woman like me get a house like this!"
"Jane, you didn't go from nothing to something, you were always something, and influence helped you to become what it is."
Courage relates to every single aspect of leadership.
Nelson Mandela said he would fight apartheid
Vision: a picture of the future that creates passion in people
That's kind of funny. I'm sensitive to the paradigm of worrying about what other people think. Trying to turn off my critic.
Leadership: Getting people from here to there.
It takes more courage than any onlooker can imagine. A lot goes on inside to make what you see on the outside.
Building a building to serve the poor, as the people that wanted to serve them were becoming the poor!
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, I am with you and I will never forsake you. Josh 1:9
They put in a huge lobby so poor wouldn't have to wait outside in the cold.
They put in a choice grocery store instead of a food bank so people could have a choice of what they got for food.
T
Why any sensible pastor would keep fully capable women from full deployment is beyond me – Bill Hybels Dang!
A lot of leaders fear what failing would look like in the middle, so they don't make it to the start.
Many leaders secretly abort their vision out of fear.
Too many visions die inside somebody's head because of fear. The cost was too high or the potential for failure was too great.
Do we lay the blame for the state of the world at the feet of a loving GOd, or at the feet of gutless, fraidy-cat leaders that don't have the chutspa to make their vision happen?
You might have ideas, but you lack one thing: bravery. Basic courage.
BE STRONG AND Courageous! What if God wants to do the thing He is giving you to do!?
That is why God made us leaders, not to suck our thumbs in the status quo. Not to hold our blankey and go to our grave with hidden visions.
A lady came up to bill and said,
Thank you for this place, right now it is our family's only hope.
He drove home crying at the thought of killing off that vision in a moment of fear.
Down, flatline, or upturn, what is the current reality? If it's going down, get your team and act fast!
MRI and code red story. Entire MRI staff ran out and left him in the MRI machine. "Ok folks, I'll just wait here and grow a third eye!"
Flatline: Sometimes to get to code red, the leader needs to commit arson. Set status quo on fire so people will evacuate, if necessary.
Upward run, you behave differently, you store up, you take more risks, you give younger, unskilled players more gametime.
The hardest part of this exercise is identifying whether you are up, down, or flat. Nobody ever wants to admit and face 2 of those 3.
Admit your downturn and act on it! Don't let the org burn down!
Truth: your whole team knows the reality of the state of the team, they are waiting for you to step up and lead them in it.
Whatever you are the most responsible for leading, what is YOUR current reality? Up, flat, down? Where are you individually?
Requires ruthless honesty about your current reality.
under 3.75, people don't trust each other, it's toxic
4.00 range, people kind of like coming to work, like kissing your sister
4.75 flourish, that is the magical range! stuff is awesome!
in their first year, they were 3.82, in toxic range
He was devastated by the results, but there was so much hurt and disappointment on their team he didn't sleep for weeks.
He knew it was going to take hundreds of meetings to work the stuff out and rebuild, so they started fast.
they went from 3.82 to 3.95 in a year, still toxic and still working
It took them 3 years to get healthy. Recovering trust in your staff takes years.
people join organizations and leave managers
That applies in churches, in missions, etc. "I loved your organization but my manager was crazy!"
**If they were done learning to be managers, they were done on the staff. **
Flourishing organizations are few and far between. Very few organizations reach 4.0
Staff cultures will only be as healthy as the CEO or Senior Pastor wants them to be. Delegating or abdicating this to anyone else is the kiss of death.
I know you think your job is safe, but we are no longer going to pay people to bruise and bust our culture. Build a flourishing culture or we will fire you.
You will not believe the difference beteween a flourishing staff and a toxic staff!
Rowing a boat across a lake with 10 people with only 3 people rowing. 3 are checking their txt, 2 are willfully sinking the boat, and 2 are asleep.
I really hope the messed up churches and pastors in Evansville take this talk to heart. There are so many toxic cultures in ministries it makes me want to tear my shirt.
OneLife has campus pastors, WillowCreek has section pastors.
His friend lost a 5yo grandbaby, went to a church and sobbed through the whole service and nobody came up to talk to him about it. That messed Bill up, he couldn't bear the thought of somebody coming to Willow, weeping through a service, and not getting a pat on the back.
There is a time to cast a vision, and there is a time to establish an invaluable value.
"This is now a part of our culture, and you can like it or leave it." I don't think I know any church that really has the balls to have that attitude. They talk it, but they don't act it.
We will no longer be a church that lets people leave here unwelcomed and unloved.
Seems like Bill is moving Willow to do in their sections what the Verge folks are doing in neighborhoods.
I don't think willow would admit this, but it seems like they are still in the temple mentality. Putting money into section pastors systems builds up the pastoral care of the sections of the church, but it's still inside the church. Maybe this summit is focused on what happens inside doors because that's the audience.
if you are going to lead an organization, you are going to have to re-invent the organization and re-invent yourself several times.
You are going to have to celebrate and bless your colleagues as they leave and go on to do bigger and better things without you!
Lawyer: people don't change
Bill H.: I'm betting my life that you are wrong
He felt an impression from the Holy Spirit to preach in the middle of a baptism service. He said that God loves you just as you are and God has always been reaching out to you.
Mobs of people came down to be baptized. Mobs, In suits, in skirts, baptized like crazy.
So many of God's rewards for leaders are reserved for late in the race.
Consider Caleb and finish strong. Courageous leaders need to endure, persevere, don't be gutless.
