The Bible commands us to take initiative in doing good and to be aware of the needs around us.  – Romans 12

My problem with the idea of being very prepared was I thought the more prepared you were, the more you locked yourself into a set pattern or prepared system.  I found the opposite to be true.

If, for example, I’m prepared for a speech, I know my information very well and even know information I do not plan to share, that gives me a lot of confidence and flexibility.  I will give a better speech because I’m confident based on all my preparation and I have flexibility to adjust based on the audience, setting, or a question from a listener.  If I know all my information inside and out, I can easily adjust or adapt with ease.  Being les prepared actually locks me into presenting only what I know in the only way I planned it, even if signs of a need to adjust arise.

Being over-prepared for an event allows for you to still be in control when the unexpected happens because you prepared as though it were expected.  Preparing for the unlikely makes you stand out as great when the unlikely arises and you’re the only one ready.  People will notice this and begin to look to you.

God fulfills His promises and His plans.  The Old Testament prophesies must have been confusing when they spoke of Jesus being born in one city, yet to live in a different one, and be titled by yet another.  This could have been taken as contradictions or confusing but then we see all the circumstances Joseph and Mary went through and how the direction of god led them to different places.  It almost seems as a natural list of events or story yet it fulfilled some wild and seemingly opposing prophecies.  I need to trust that God is going to do that in my life.

When expressing my struggles about what to do regarding ministry, finances, and my living situations, (my former pastor) Charlie Bridges reminded me to let the peace of God rule in my heart and be my guide.  The peace of God will never contradict the will or Word of God.  He told me to think back to a time when I knew that I was in the middle of God’s will and remember what that felt like and then look for that feeling.  No matter how difficult, scary, or out of my comfort zone something may appear, may my deciding factor be that I am following the peace of God.

I have dreamed of starting a church for years.  Though some of the particulars and the desired location have changed, the overall desire remains.  But is it a calling?

I have spent much time in prayer trying to discern whether this longing and the things I hear about it are really from God or just what I want.  And if they are from God, I’m seeking confirmation on things such as location, timing, method, etc.

I do know that I get extremely excited every time I spend much time thinking about launching a new church.  I could talk, plan, or write about the subject for hours.  I would even say that it seems I get more burdened or excited about the idea when I’m closer or more consistent in my walk with God.

This entire time I have tried to be open to hearing from God about this.  Finally, I have told God that I will obey if He reveals that planting in Chattanooga is His will for me.  So here are the things I’m asking He give me as conformation.  These are also just three essentials that I think any church planter should have.

• A crystal-clear vision

If you don’t have a vision, where are you going?  You have to see it internally before you can really want it.  A vision is vital when casting the dream and motivating others to follow.

• A burning passion

There must be drive and motivation behind the vision to carry it out.  I have prayed that if this is really what God wants, He make my burden and passion so great that I would not be satisfied or even want to live doing anything else.

• People to come along side of me

A professor of mine told me that when God calls you to do something great, He calls others to join with you.  This is what I need and desire; to have people who believe in me, encourage me, and connect with the vision to see lives changed.  I need people who will support me – financially, with prayers, using their ministry gifts, etc.  This may be the most important of the three because without others in this with me, I’m just a lonely boy with a dream.

Now I have to admit that I’m one of those people that look for deeper meanings or a message behind everything (I’m the only one who will leave the theatre crying after the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall because somehow his struggle to choose between two women taught me about mankind’s struggle in deciding our pursuits and how whole-heatedly we will chase them – and also his brittle job and the lack of passion to pursue his dream and launch a new career connected with my own life and was meant as a message just for me), but still I thought Rock’s message was pretty good.  Grasping the have/say principle helped explain a lot of complex reasoning I had struggled with before.

The idea is pretty much that each person has a choice.  They can choose to be a talker, who gets to speak, gossip, blog, and call into their local newspaper forum about their opinions and criticisms of others.  They could choose to be a haver (I know it’s not a word), who is doing things in life, gaining possessions and recognition, and holds some form of office or authority in any number of fields.  The catch is that I think it’s only possible to be one of these things at a time because only certain people can get away with being talkers.  For example, it’s ok for the poor to talk about the rich, to make fun, criticize, and question how they go about both earning and spending their money.  Rich people could never get away with saying such things about the poor, name calling or stereotyping them.  The same with fat and thin.  It is perfectly tolerated for a group of overweight folks to sit in a salon or around a table at McDonald’s and label thin models as shallow and possibly unhealthy in their habits of keeping thin.  A thin, attractive media character however would get black balled for saying that everyone overweight is lazy and slow.  We can either have or talk.

This made a lot of since when I thought about people in the public eye who I used to think should do things differently.  Barack Obama and Joel Osteen are two people I quietly support and hope well for.  Both are heavily criticized – oddly enough by mostly the same crowd.  When hearing how much assuming, exaggeration, and even flat out lying was being done against figures such as these, I used to think they should get up there and run down the list of all the inaccurate information being circulated and just set everyone straight.  I now realize that doing so would only bring them into a place of receiving higher scrutiny.  These men and others who take flack for their positions, income, or popularity cannot defend themselves.  They have given up that privilege.  They have chosen to no longer debate and talk, rather, they have chosen to do.

Then I look at the critics, those that are doing the talking.  They are always those way below the level of the ones they are criticizing.  To defend themselves, those in the higher position would actually have to sink back down to the level of just being a talker.

Everybody gets a choice.  You can say or you can have.  The moment I stop to try and answer, correct, address, or even win over those who criticize me, I stop moving forward and will never attain more in my career.

Don’t be so organized!  I planned to do so many things that I never ended up doing, most of them because I did not think I had the time.  Now many of those things have been done like they were no big deal by volunteers.  I made things harder and more drawn out by doing too much planning and not enough doing.

Deal with people!  It’s about relationships.  Spend time with people.  I have little to show for 10 hour days in the office.  I received the most satisfaction by being with people, so why not do more of that.  Take people out to eat, invite them along for everyday life.  I was there to impact, teach, and help people, not programs, papers, computers, or meetings.  Talk to people in person instead of writing letters.  ALWAYS MAKE TIME FOR PEOPLE!  Get out more.  Be there for people.  Everything I thought had to be done that got in the way of having more time for just being with people is not even being done now and everything is going just fine, in some ways even better than before.

Be Simple!  Don’t make it so complex.  Don’t offer 101 things to do.  DO WHAT IS IMPORTANT.  DO WHAT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.  Other than that, only do the other stuff if I have time and it does not take the place of something more important.

Think big picture

Think eternal things

Make sure I take time to do well what I feel is the strength of my ministry (speaking)

Involve the students more.  Make things rely on them.  If they don’t do it, it does not happen.  Not that if they don’t do it, I will just so it gets done (youth newsletter).

Have stuff for my secretary, volunteers, and leaders to do.  Not everything has to be done by me – not everything can be done by me.

Quit making future plans.  If it is that important, do it now!

It’s always easier when looking back, for after all hindsight is 20/20.  There is no way I could have been expected to predict the future or always be able to foresee what events, games, lessons, meetings, and styles would work or not work.  Honestly, I would say that I feel I was a pretty good youth pastor, especially considering I fell into a very large youth group and was given sole control all while being barely old enough to drink.  But being forcefully removed from that position allowed me to view it from as an outsider, something I was unable to do when I was so deep into it that it was near impossible to escape from doing things out or routine, easiness, and the desire for approval.

If you’re in ministry, perhaps the above epiphanies I experienced will help you step back and evaluate.  Perhaps we all should slow down from time to time and in as honest and unbiased way as possible evaluate how we perform and behave at work, at home, with friends, with family, and with strangers.  I hope never to have to be unwillingly released from a position again in order to see how I could have done it better.

Whatever you do, do it with confidence.  Be sure of who you are and what you are doing.  The moment you begin to doubt yourself you loose who you really are.

The only two things a person needs to succeed in this life are ignorance and confidence.  The world steps aside for the man who acts like he thinks he knows what he’s doing.

People treat you differently when you act with confidence.  It’s not just what you do; how you do it speaks just as loud.  If you do something wrong but do it with confidence, people are more likely to doubt that you are wrong than correct your wrong doing.

Confidence is thinking you could do anything.  God can do anything.  Being in Christ should give us great confidence.

What is the difference in confidence and faith?

Confidence can be shown by holding eye contact, by not tailing off at the end of a sentence, or by simply being quiet at the after making a statement, not feeling the need to justify or explain it as though others skepticism somehow lessons its validity.

Confidence is a balance.  It’s not arrogance.  It’s not rambling about how great we are.  Confidence does not brag on itself because it does not feel it has to convince others for what it knows to be truth to be so.

These are just some ideas I wrestled with and wrote out several months back.  As weird as it sounds I was feeling led to build up my confidence.  And that’s an interesting task.  I mean, there’s not really a whole lot of 5 step plan books on getting confidence.  I knew what it looked like and how it works for others, but was not sure on how to get some of it.  So I prayed, which has worked some.  I still doubt myself sometimes or sense myself being intimidated by others, but for the most part I have come to realize I am called by God.  The One who can do anything He wants wants me, so why should I sit in a corner with insecurities.

It also helped when I realized everyone else is human just like me.  Yes there are people who are extremely gifted, talented, trained, and educated, but they are still people, they still make mistakes, and I am slapping God in the face if I tell Him I’m not as good or worthy as they are.  And just because those people are not me, does not mean they are against me.  Humans really do root for each other a lot and almost always we want others to have confidence in themselves.  It is just as awkward to be the one who observes a singer, speaker, or actor who gets up and hangs their head, stumbles over themselves, and is obviously filled with self doubt.  We would much prefer they stand up straight, throw their shoulders back, and deliver like they are sure of themselves and what they are doing.  Just because you are more talented than someone in a certain area does not mean you have to hide, downplay that talent, or assume they will be jealous of you.  If we would all be sure of ourselves, we would step with confidence, accomplish more, and not seek our esteem from needing the approval of others.

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