All That I Can Say

This is all, this is all that I can say right now

I know it's not much

But this is all that I can give

Yeah, that's my everything

-David Crowder

If you haven't heard this song, All That I Can Say by David Crowder, you should do so now. I'll wait...

This song is the perfect description of life, and how it should be lived. It's a cry saying "God I'm doing all I can to live for you, I don't feel like it's enough, but I will never be enough, so I'm just giving You my everything."

As we go through life in this fast-paced world that we live in, we must stop... and rest in Him. Knowing that we have done all we can to glorify Him. Living your life like this can push you to that point of pure spiritual exhaustion. Sometimes we get so exhausted and caught up in being beat down that we don't even see Him right there next to us, holding us, enduring the pain of life with us, taking care of us...

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

-Matthew 6:33

Life is a struggle...

This week has been a very humbling one for me. And as much as I hate to admit it, it was a much needed humbling, at that. I have seen several failures and been shown so much through the past few days. Here is a tidbit of what I rediscovered through these failures.

When we get caught up in what we think is right for us and don't look to God, we get frustrated, and not by coincidence. God has to put us through these circumstances to grow us. As soon as he sees that we are going stale or getting comfortable where we are, he forces us to move, through a decision, opportunity, or occurrence. We don't always move toward Him like we should but we always move. It's through this movement that we become closer to or stray away from what God has planned in our lives.

This week I had the incredible opportunity to lead worship at a See You at the Pole Pre-Rally at Hilltop Baptist Church in Morrison, OK. There is nothing more exciting, fulfilling, and humbling, than leading passionate students in worship to our God. Whether it's 55 students, sitting in church pews, using a borrowed sound system, or 300 students, with the best lights and sound equipment money can buy, it's all worship and God hears it the same. The magnitude of me is ALWAYS less than the minimum of Him.

What can we learn from Kanye's mistake?

How out-of-line was Kanye when he interrupted Taylor Swift in her exception speech at the VMA's? Without question... Very. Disregarding the fact that I believe it was in deed staged from the beginning, Kanye was way out-of-line to step in and say, "Congratulations, BUT Beyonce was better..."

I think we, as the church, often do this when new leadership steps into vacant roles where we were once satisfied. We say, "Glad you're here, BUT there's no way you are as good as the other guy." I have found myself guilty of that in the past and seeing the whole Kanye thing unfold, has lead me to see how foolish that attitude really is.

Maybe Beyonce's video was better, possibly one of the greatest of all time, that doesn't give Kanye the right to stand in front of their peers and say so, so bluntly. Quit talking about how, "It just isn't the same without 'so-and-so'. Things went a better with 'them' here. We should go back to the way it used to be." If you want to see a change in the way things are run, do something. Come up with a plan, and present it to your peers instead of just complaining to them.

Today I was reading an assignment for my Intro to Industrial Engineering class about management. In it were 14 points of management. As I read the 14 points of management for a company or industry, I thought to myself this a are very good model for how leadership should look in the Church. Here are a few that stuck out to me.

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service.

-Always be intentionally getting better.

2. Adopt the new philosophy.

-Figure out what the people want, what's cutting edge, and simply apply it.

3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality.

-Make sure you do it right the first time. Don't give someone room to criticize you because you didn't do your best.

4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag.

-Realize that the popular or wealthy aren't the only people worthy of your time.

5. Institute leadership.

-Duh...

6. Break down barriers between departments.

-Make the Church a place where everyone gets along, make it personal. ELE(Everybody Love Everybody).

7. Eliminate work standards.

-Goals are good, Quotas are bad. Lead by example.

8. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.

-Train volunteers as intensively as staff, take it upon yourself to improve.

These are just of a few of the Principles of Management as seen by W.E. Demming out of his book Out of the Crisis.

As the era of the "Mega Church" continues, running the physical/financial component of The Church is definitely business like. If this is true should we not also work as though it is a business, in which the ultimate goal is to be efficient and be profitable, in other words, live our lives for the glory of One and lead others to that One...

The Beginning

I have decided to start a blog because I often have thoughts I want to express but don't have a place to express them. Facebook is to social and "light" for some topics, Twitter to brief, and none these "thoughts" are personal enough to share with a close friend directly. I want some where to think out loud. Done.