Remember who you are

Today at C3, Konan gave a great message titled "remember who you are". He showed the lion king clip where Mufasa was talking to Simba and reminded him who he is.

It was a great reminder that we all allow our view of self to get clouded and distorted by lies. The one who delivers those lies can come in many shapes and sizes but the source is the enemy.

We were never meant to believe the crap that people tell us. We are to believe the truth. The truth is we were put on this planet for a reason. The truth is we are all capable of greatness. The truth is there are people who would rather see us fail than succeed. The truth is we are loved. The truth is we are valuable.

My point: it is 100% up to us to choose what we believe about ourselves. You must identify the lies you chose to believe and replace those lies with truth. If you are not sure or too far down the road of negative self beliefs to know the real truth, you need someone to come alongside of you to speak truth to you.

The greatest form of deception is self deception.

A community group is a GREAT way to have people speak truth into ur life. Get in one...

Mastering conflict

The foundation of any relationship is trust. According to many leadership books one of the next most important things is mastering conflict.

Every relationship will have some sort of conflict at one time or another. How u respond to it will determine how deep the relationship can get. If u won't engage, it'll remain surface. If u engage to "win" or hurt the other person, it won't grow.

Mastering conflict means that u recognize it and work to resolution and do ur best find the "win win". If there doesn't seem to be a solution that everyone can agree on then u have to make the tough call for the good of the goal.

We had a person in a church service that had children being very loud and distracting. I was receiving texts and people trying to get my attention to deal with it.

I quietly and kindly asked her to bring the children out into the foyer so I could talk to her and explain our childcare options. I wanted to let her know we video and record the audio of our services so there are multiple reasons we ask children to go to their designated environments. This person decided they would just leave instead of cooperating. I guess there was no win win to them so I had to do what was best for everyone.

My point: sometimes you have to make a tough decision. Sometimes people get offended or hurt. Conflict will happen but we can't avoid it. We must master it.

One of my favorite communicators said "as a church, we will sacrifice one for all but never all for one".

Think about that statement. If the noisy children weren't asked to come out where they wouldn't distract others, we would've sacrificed all for one.

I hated to be the one to have to talk to them but I believe it was the best thing for the other couple hundred people who were in that service and who did cooperate by taking their kids to the age appropriate environments.

FYI: we publicly ask at the beginning of every service for families to take kids to their rooms. This family ignored that request...

Finally

Our new student pastor Tony is staying with us until he finds a house to buy. We are really enjoying him being here - but we have different reasons.

My younger girls love clinging to his legs and being pulled across the floor. They like being chased and they enjoy being his weights when he does a triceps workout.

Shayna likes having her friends over to talk about how they can have an impact in their schools for Jesus. She also enjoys dreaming about what the student ministry will become at C3.

I, on the other hand, like having some testosterone up in this joint. Tony appreciates the finer things in life. By the finer things, I mean my stupid humor, laughing at my old jokes, remembering stories from when I was a youth pastor and he takes naps while watching football.

My point: We knew it was going to be an adjustment to have someone stay with us but this is a very pleasant adjustment. He is only staying with us until he finds a house of his own but when he finally finds one I hope he is ready for lots of company.

C3 finally has a student pastor and I FINALLY have some testosterone in this house to attempt to level out the estrogen.

Even if its only temporary, it's nice.

Do what you came to do

The other day when I was at the gym I noticed this woman on her phone for a very long time.

I have returned an occasional text while working out but for the most part I try to do what I came to do.

I started thinking about when people are places physically but they really aren't there mentally.

My family has been caught up in texting or emailing at dinner so we implemented a no toys or phones at the dinner table. We hold each other accountable to it.

Then I started wondering how many people go to church and enjoy a cup of coffee and some conversation but leave the exact same way as they came. They are in he building but they are not in His presence.

My point: do what you came to do. If ur at the gym, workout. If ur at the dinner table, eat. If ur playing a game with ur kids, play the game. If ur at church, worship the God you came to learn about.

If u go to the gym but don't workout, you won't see change. If you go to church and don't learn or worship...

As advertised

I love a good commercial that has nothing to do with what it is advertising. The Old Spice man "on a horse", the cavemen that for some reason are tied to Geico and now the dollarshaveclub.com

It is an instant classic. It has nothing to do with razors but it is so stinkin funny that I want to watch it over and over. I have already emailed it out and watched it with 3 different people multiple times.

It made me think about people I interact with. What do I remember about them. Is what they "advertise" what I remember.

Do they claim to be a person of integrity and loyalty only to gossip about u as soon as u turn ur back? Do they claim to be a good friend only to gripe when u ask for a favor? Do they claim to be generous only to be the one doing the asking...

My point: as funny as these commercials are, I sometimes forget what they are advertising. As much as people advertise how great they are - their actions may make u forget what they are claiming to be.

Wouldn't it be great if we could all stop advertising one thing and then living another.

It would be awesome if everything (and everyone) was as advertised.

Mobbed

Just watched the show called mobbed and couldn't help getting a little teary eyed.

This show is so good on so many levels. It is reality based, its a surprise, its based on doing good, it's a clear vision, its team work and among many other things, its execution of the plan.

There is something about seeing a person surprised and brought to tears that makes me get glossy eyed too. Yep, call me a sap (or any other word u choose) but I kinda like it.

One of the best parts of this show is it proves how a clear vision and a plan with people who work hard and cooperate can accomplish something great in a short amount of time.

My point: a team with a plan is dangerous.

Mobbed = tears

Teamwork makes the dream work

Conflict: the company line

The C3 way of dealing with conflict is to run at it. We have a company line that we share with those who call C3 their home. It is "you need to go and talk to the person and if you don't feel comfortable I will go with you".

When someone is complaining - we give the company line. When someone is gossiping - we give the company line. When someone starts a Facebook fire - yep, company line.

Conflict, when dealt with properly, can be incredibly productive. It can help things get better, it can teach us better communication skills and it can help us grow and look more like Jesus.

My point: We believe the enemy of unity is not conflict but unresolved, ignored, un dealt with or mishandled conflict.

If we don't deal with it immediately, it has a better chance of growing and getting out if control.

Come on, say it with me: you need to go and talk to the person and if you don't feel comfortable I will go with you
#CompanyLine

Sidestep negativity

As a staff we are reading the cliff notes of 7 habits of highly successful people. One of the phrases that stuck with me was "be the kind of person who generates positive energy and sidesteps negative energy."

That got me thinking about people I like being around. I like being around them because they generate positive energy. Then I started thinking about how people perceive me. Do they perceive me as positive energy or am I someone they want to sidestep?

I once heard that the greatest form of deception is "self deception". That pretty much means you have no clue how you really are because you refuse to see yourself how you really are. One way to know if you are generating positive energy is if people like being around you dread it or are you flat out being sidestepped?

My point: sidestepping negative energy means not feeding it. Don't engage in it and don't definitely don't encourage it. If people get side stepped enough, it may cause them to take a good honest look in the mirror. If not overcome it with positivity.

Encourage and edify because beautiful things happen in your life when you distance yourself from all the negative things.