Bill Hybels on Tough Callings
- What if God called leaders to do something that is great work but would never be successful…under resources part of the world in brutal conditions. No promise of earthly success. Would you say yes God?
- How addicted are we to the narcotic of growth and success?
- Jeremiah’s Message: Warn the people!
- Jeremiah 20 – Jeremiah curses his life… The call of God wasn’t exactly what he thought it would be.. But God did call me and I did say yes.
- Jeremiah was torn between his calling and his ache for success!
- He wanted to be faithful, but ached to be successful in the eyes of the world!
- Jeremiah got to the point where he recognized he had to give up his ache to be successful in the worlds eyes!
- Lamentations 3 – throughout all of this Gods mercies were new to me every morning… What I did was hard and was never seen as successful, but God was fresh and new to me everyday. At the end of the day… Great is thy faithfulness… At the end of the day I’d do it again!
- Our world is broken and is getting worse!
- The fixes that will be required are not going to be easy assignment,s short time, compensation packages, it’s going to decades or lifetimes.
- God is looking for some strong shouldered leaders…. If there is a tough problem in this world, I am available!
- Be willing to take a tough calling!
- Leaders who take on tough assignments…have a trove of memories of the faithfulness of God… They have stories to give God glory for.
Mama Maggie Gobran on Tough Callings
- Stephens Children – named after the first martyr
- Mother Theresa of Cairo
- We could have been in any these people’s place… We don’t choose where we are born, but we do choose to be sinners or saints to be nobody or heroes.
- If you want to be a hero, do what God wants you do.
- Jesus said my words are spirit and life!
- When it is really tough I call Jesus
- True love is to forgive. Give until it hurts! Forgiveness is not between you and the other, forgiveness is between you and God! He is holding the account.
- It’s when you die to yourself, it’s when you find your true beauty and power.
- Children are hungry every day every meal every hour and hungry for love and acceptance. Naked from shelter and clothes and dignity and hope. They have no self esteem, self respect, etc.
- When someone has nothing, God becomes everything. When touch a poor child, I’m touching Jesus. When I listen to a poor child, I’m listening to Gods heart beat for all humanity.
- Among them the Creator is hidden… There is mystery in the poor!
- Have a pure heart and give it to God! Devote days to silence! Silence is then first step to find the treasures! To be silence is to be in your full sense!
- Silence your body to listen to the words. Silence your tongue to listen to your thoughts. Silence your thoughts to listen to your heart beating! Silence your heart to listen to your spirit. Silence your spirit, you listen to his spirit. In silence, you leave many, and be with the one.
Michelle Rhee on Students First
- Michelle Rhee Movie: Waiting for Superman
- Hardest job in the city… Teacher!
- No one wants to put their kids in an ineffective teacher or youth pastor or anything… It doesn’t matter if they think it’s the right thing for the system!
- How did you handle the weight of criticism? I’d rather have a room of people yelling at me and arguing with me than people who were apathetic!
- The sense or urgency is huge… Your kids are going to go to college before you know it… Time is of the essence! Will the next crew take over well? It depends on the courage of the next leader! Everything rises and falls on leadership!
- Education is influenced by specialized companies, groups, and organizations. There is no national group looking after all of these groups. There has to be that voice out there so there is accountability!
- Students First! Studentsfirst.org
- The people who voted people into positions, will often come against you… You can’t live to make them happy… You have to do what is the best for everyone! Kids don’t vote or contribute! You have to do what is best for them.
- Proverbs 31:8 – Speak up for those who can’t speak up for themselves!
- Stand up and do something!
Henry Cloud – The Evil, The Foolish, and the Wise
- Are you going to allow this person to stop your vision?
- What does a person do when the truth comes to them?
- Leaders define reality and make it workable!
- What if people are allergic to feedback? Don’t take it?
- Where your maturity isn’t good enough to sustain you, bring in an external force!
- Some people are wise, some are foolish, some are evil!
- Wise Person – when light comes to them, they adjust! Do not take it personally! Truth comes – they change!
- Correct a wise person and they will be wiser still!
- Wise people say thanks when they are corrected!
- A righteous man will strike me and it will be a blessing!
- Talk to them…. Talking helps! Coach them! Resource them!
- Challenge: make sure they are a match for what you need! Give them good feedback and coaching. You have to keep them challenged appropriately!
- Fools: they are usually the brightest and the smartest and gifted and charisma and they do produce, but when the light comes, they adjust the light!
- They try to dim it! Adjust the truth! Wise change themselves, the fool adjusts the truth… Or shoot the messenger! If they attack you right away… They are squinting!
- Deny it’s reality, minimize, externalize, shoot the messenger! They become upset and angry! Meeting after the meeting…. Come against you!
- One of the most important feelings you can have: hopelessness! They don’t own it! The problem isn’t in the room! A responsible leader has hope that the fool will become wise in time!
- Do not confront or correct a fool … Lest you want insults against yourself and they end up hating you!
- Stop talking! They have stopped your vision and plan!
- Different conversation: you know how we’ve talked about AAAAAAAA etc… I’m done talking about problems. I want to talk about the problem of talking about problems with you doesn’t work any more! Take it out of the weeds and take it up to the pattern. I don’t know how to give you feedback and I am hopeless.
- I’ve got to protect our vision! Limits… I’m going to limit my exposure… If that means… I can not lose another product…time…etc! How can I talk to you so when I talk to you it makes a difference??
- They could be foolish for shame and fear reasons. What do you feel when I correct you!
- Figure it out… I am going to do this… What will we do if we do is and nothing changes? What do we do then? Then you give consequences!
- Fools do not change when truth comes their way!
- When the pain of not changing becomes more painful than the pain of changing… They change! Doing what leadership entails takes courage!
- Limit exposure, make the consequences clear, give them a choice, follow through! What I need in this chair is someone who can hear reality and do something about it!
- The Evil: Destruction in their hearts, they want to inflict pain! There are bad people. Get rid of them.
John Dickson – Humilitas
- Humility – the noble choice to forego your status and use your influence for the good of other before yourself. To hold your power in service of others! Humility is common sense!
- Expertise in one area counts for very little in another area!
- Humility is beautiful!
- We are more attracted to the humble experts than the experts who want us to know they are experts!
- Whoever wants to be great must first serve!
- It was Jesus crucifixion that changed people’s view on humility!
- Philippians 2:3-8 – Consider others as better than yourselves! God made himself nothing and became obedient to death on a cross!
- We only like people who are actually humble!
- Greatness and humility are now one!
- Humility is Generative – it generates new skills, abilities, etc. The proud will walk away with less than the proud in learning environments!
- Humility generated science!
- Humility is the place of flourishing!
- Accurate criticism is your best friend it’s the Fast track to success if you are humble!
- Humility is Persuasive
- The most believable person in the world is the person you know has your best interest in their heart. Humility persuades. character compels.
- Humility is inspiring! Leaders that let us around them and are humble, influence the most!
- Persuasion The best leaders, may not have authority, they have a ton of ability, authority, and persuasion! You don’t need the power or mandate… You don’t need a majority to impact your nation
- Treat people like human beings instead of fans!
- Humility is a reflection of reality, not a leadership principle… At the center of everything is a cross the self giving of the almighty!
Patrick Lencioni – Getting Naked
- People need to be reminded more than they need to be instructed…
- I am a reminder, not an instructor!
- The power of vulnerability! Vulnerability – massive rewards to being vulnerable and there is a huge risk of getting hurt!
- 3 fears that hold us back from being vulnerable:
- 1.) The fear of losing the business (being rejected)
- There is terminal niceness in church and ministries because we are afraid of rejection!
- People are desperate for people to tell them the kind truth!
- 2.) fear of being embarrassed
- People want to know that you have their best interest in mind, not trying to protect your own image!
- Ask dumb questions!
- Celebrate our mistakes!
- 3.) Fear of Feeling Inferior
- Do the dirty work
- Show people you are willing to do whatever you are asking them to do!
- Jesus washed the disciples feet!
- Honor your clients work… Be more interested in them than they are in you!
- Its not about you looking good, its about you helping people no matter what!
Erwin McManus – Chasing Daylight
- Ecclesiastes 1 – Everything is meaningless… There is nothing new under the sun! It’s a pat on the head and the back… It’s ok Erwin…Something in my soul felt sickened by that verse!
- Solomon was wrong… There is something new under the sun!
- Virgin birth, god walking among us, touching blind making them see… All new! A lot of new things happening! God being crucified, resurrection of the dead, Jesus moving the tomb… It never had to be done twice!
- Start paying attention or you’re going to miss the new! Isiah – I’m doing a new thing! Will you be aware of it!?
- God is a God of the new… If you live a life outside of God there is nothing new under the son. You’re stuck in a repetitive day
- His mercies are new every morning, you become a new creation!! God was an artist! He is creating! God is still doing the new!
- Let’s make history! Let’s change history! Let’s create the future!
- Creative order… Vs. Created arena…
- Live in the creator we live in the creative order and we become Gods instrument to create the future!
- Evil people don’t wait to create the future they have in mind
- Christians sit around waiting for God to create the world
- God saved the world through Noah… Noah saved the human race! He heard God’s voice, chose to obey, built the ark, did the job,
- Whatever we choose is what is next…
- Why do we wait for someone else to create a better future?
- We need to become cultivators of human talent and potential! Nurture the creative capacity of every human being and develop them!
- Some we born great, others were made create, others have greatness thrown upon them – Shakespeare!
- There has never been an ordinary child born, most of us die extremely ordinary!
- What is spiritual leadership if we don’t set the human spirit free to live?
- The church needs to reclaim it’s place as the epicenter of man creativity!
- You in your best is probably not in the least bit intimidating to God!
- We need to become narrators of the human story!
- Before you came to Christ you weren’t pure evil!
- Whoever tells the best story shapes the culture!
- People are searching for God. Everything you need to reach someone for Jesus is already in them.
- It’s not that hard to bring people to Jesus when you tell them a story that they can find themselves in!
- There is a future to be created! If we return to becoming the narrators…
