Judas handed Jesus over to the priest out of creed
The priest handed Jesus over to Pilate out of envy
Pilate handed Jesus over to the soldiers out of cowardice
The soldiers nail Jesus to the cross because it was popular and the path of least resistance

What would we hand him over for ?

Much that passes for Christianity today is the brief bright effort of the severed branch to bring forth its fruit in its season. But the deep laws of life are against it. Preoccupation with appearances and a corresponding neglect of the out-of-sight root of the true spiritual life are prophetic signs which go un-heeded. Immediate “results” are all that matter, quick proofs of present success without a thought of next week or next year. Religious pragmatism is running wild among the orthodox. Truth is whatever works.

If it gets results it is good. There is but one test for the religious leader: success. Everything is forgiven him except failure.

A tree can weather almost any storm if its root is sound, but when the fig tree which our Lord cursed “dried up from the roots” it immediately “withered away.” A church that is soundly rooted cannot be destroyed, but nothing can save a church whose root is dried up. No stimulation, no advertising campaigns, no gifts of money and no beautiful edifice can bring back life to the rootless tree.

I know, it sounds odd for someone in the “people business” to say this, but it is a reality.

Week after week I have people come to me and say: “Can you help me?” a “I want to change, please tell me how?”

And you sit with them, give them wisdom and insight, then off they go and it is the same old, same old.

The ones that I personally find disconcerting are those that say they want to be leaders. You invest in them your time and resources, give them opportunity and they say thank you and do nothing with it.

People will only change if they want to.

That is why I wait when selecting leaders or promoting people. 

That is why I take my time appointing leaders and that is why I watch and keep my eye out for the silent ones. The ones that don’t say much but week after week turn up and give of themselves in any way that they can.

In life, in leadership, in business about the only thing you can give people is…an opportunity.

So…if an opportunity is all you can give, how do you choose whom to give one to ?

1) The faithful

In leadership, always reward faithfulness.

Faithfulness is not a one time gig.

Faithfulness is the constant fulfillment of your obligations and commitments over time.

Christ encouraged us to be faithful in the little, and faithful in another mans. Why? Why would He have us prove ourselves in the small and in another life?

Because if we will be faithful in the details of life and if we will be faithful with that thing that someone else gives us to do, then we prove that we will be faithful when God releases much into our lives.

2) Those prepared to go above and beyond

Serving for some in life and in church today has become about preparing a platform for my future prominence. That is not serving. That is manipulation and politics. Serving is really doing what has been asked of you because it has been asked of you…and for no other reason than that.

3) Self starters and continual learners

For people to really change and to really find their place in church life they have to come to a place of revelation and relaxation.

A revelation of who God is and then relaxing and trusting that ALL things are in His hands.

These people position themselves for opportunity by doing what they can with what they’ve got.

They are continually learning, continually striving, continually making themselves valuable to have around.

4) Sons/Daughters of the house, not hirelings

There are people who are just in it for what they get out of it – money, position, power, recognition, that is fine. You know what their agenda is and you can make a decision to work with that or not.

But then their are people who are in it because they see it as something more.

To them it is personal.

To them it is family.

To them it is a passion and a reason.

Now these people may not be the most credentialed, but they are the most qualified.

You can always staff through hiring, you can only expand your family through adoption.

You have to bring people in, take the time to make them a part of the family.

“when all is done, the hell of hells, the torment of torment, is the everlasting absence of God, and the everlasting impossibility of returning to his presence”
John Donne

Was speaking to someone yesterday and talking about life, ministry…all that stuff.

They made a comment that man can not stop what God wants to do in a church.

I thought about that a lot…and I don’t agree.

The murmurers among the Children of Israel stopped the whole nation from moving into blessing.

They wasted 40 years of everyone’s time.
They cause a whole group to die in the wilderness, not the promised land.

It was never Moses’ fault.
And yet Moses, Joshua, Caleb and their families paid the price for it.
The children of the murmurers paid the price for it.

It was the lazy and fearful who delayed the building of the walls of Jerusalem, not the leadership.
It was the selfish, jealous brothers who sold Joseph into slavery.

We are all called to add something to a body.
We are all called like members to work in concert with one another, not against one another.

The murmurers against Moses could have wandered back to Egypt themselves. They could have wandered off into the desert and died themselves.

But they wouldn’t.
They were cowards.

They needed, like Jim Jones, a wolf, to slather as many sheep as he could to validate his point of view.

The people of influence who murmured against Moses were not after the good of the nation of Israel…no…time and time again we see that it was the Shepherd Moses who cared for others.

What they wanted was to take from Moses everything that he had spent his life building and use it for themselves. And what did their selfish ambitions bring to those around them?

Death, destruction and unfulfilled potential.

What did their repeated rebellion cost Moses?

His immediate dream.

They pushed him beyond endurance by there murmuring, unfair accusations, refusal to listen, refusal to make a stand, continual maintenance of detrimental relationships with people who spoke out against him, and by refusing to believe the best in him.

And how did Moses respond?

He sinned..he disobeyed God.

BUT..and here is the big BUT (I love God and how He does this):

Regardless of the hard-hearted attitude of the people who pushed Moses, God was able to turn things around with the promise that Moses will be one of the prophets that will used in the second coming of our Lord.

Gen 50:20
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

And for anyone in Christian leadership…that is a GREAT promise.

It is a promise that if you faithfully serve God and passionately pursue all you are believing for…it doesn’t matter how the road bends, it always gets you to where you are supposed to in God.

when historians list the character traits of the last third of twentieth century America, commitment, constancy, tenacity, endurance, patience, resolve and perseverance will not be on the list.

Our list will contain a totally different set of qualities.

It will begin with an all-consuming interest in self-esteem.

It will be followed by the subheadings of self-assertiveness, and self-enhancement, and self-realization.

And if you think that you are not at all a child of your times just test yourself to see how you respond in church life when people reject your ideas or say no to your suggestion or suggest a way that you could improve upon how you are and what you.

Church is no longer about constantly saving and discipling souls, it has become about filling the programs, to statistically get the growth to cover the budget.

You can’t breed world champions in a puppy mill.You can make live long disciples of Jesus Christ asking nothing from them.

I remember climbing on my bike one day in shorts and a singlet, in the rain, without a helmet and hitting 100mph on 114

Of flying at stall speed 150 feet over a lake to see if I could make it

Of sparring with a guy I couldn’t beat.

You just need to do stuff like that every now and again to see if your alive

Life’s to short
God is to good
This is our year

A rabbi and a baptist minister decided to buy a new car together. The day after they bought it, the rabbi found the minister driving it. The minister explained that he had just gone to the carwash because, in his religion, it is customary to welcome a new member with the rite of baptism. The next day, the minister discovered the rabbi cutting the end off the tailpipe.

In a document recently discovered, it was unearthed that the ancient hebrew title for the bible was “Chuck Norris and Friends”

A preacher was making his rounds on a bicycle, when he came upon a little
boy trying to sell a lawn mower.

“How much do you want for the mower?” asked the preacher.
“I just want enough money to go out and buy me a bicycle,” said the little boy.

After a moment of consideration, the preacher asked,
” Will you take my bike in trade for it?”

The little boy asked if he could try it out first, and, after riding the bike around a little while, said,
“Mister, you’ve got yourself a deal.”

The preacher took the mower and began to crank it. He pulled on the rope a
few times with no response from the mower. The preacher called the little
boy over and said,
“I can’t get this mower to start.”

The little boy said,
“That’s because you have to cuss at it to get it
started.”

The preacher said,” I can’t cuss. It’s been so long since I became a Christian that I don’t even remember how to cuss.”

The little boy looked at him happily and said,

“You just keep pulling on that rope. It’ll come back to ya.”