I have asked Chris Johnson, the Assistant to the President at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, to be my guest blogger today. I’ve asked the guest bloggers for this week to write about what is on their hearts.

On Faith and Forgetting Your Wallet

As I stood in the self-checkout line at the store, I thought I was going to die of boredom. Finally, my turn came. I put my items on the conveyor belt and started to scan them. I reached for my wallet, and, wait a minute….. I patted all my pockets frantically, wondering where my wallet had gone. The people behind me looked at me as if to say, “Would you hurry up already?” And then I remembered. My wallet was still at home. I sheepishly canceled my purchase and walked out of the store wondering how I could be so stupid. There is nothing more frustrating and humiliating than forgetting something you need to have.

A similar thing recently happened in my spiritual life. I was reading Mark 11:22-24 and God convicted me about something I have been forgetting: “Jesus answered, saying to them, ‘Have faith in God.’” Christians should live by faith. What could be more obvious than this? But somehow we forget this. Whatever the reason, I found myself there. I had forgotten to have faith. I had been praying about many things that were heavy on my heart. I would pray but then walk away and think of all the reasons God wasn’t going to answer. Have you ever done this?

God continued to convict me when I read verse 23: “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.” Jesus is not promising to grant all my wishes—He is saying that God has unlimited power to work in our lives. However, He won’t exercise this power when we don’t believe.

When we live by faith, it transforms our outlook and our attitude, and especially how we pray. More specifically, faith changes what we ask for in prayer. There is no limitation to what God can do, and so, there is no situation in my life or in your life so hopeless that God cannot move.

Sometimes we doubt God because of our own limitations. We look at ourselves and think that God surely is looking for someone more intelligent or more gifted to use than us. This seems like humility but in reality what we are doing is limiting God. We are saying that He is not able to use us. When I began to realize this, I felt just like I had gone to the store again without my wallet. I had forgotten something that should have been with me the entire time.

This is why Jesus closes His instructions by saying, “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.”

I have asked Nick Floyd, my youngest son and the Young Adult Minister at the Prestonwood North location, to be my guest blogger today. I’ve asked the guest bloggers for this week to write about what is on their hearts.

Where are Your Disciples?

“It all started by Jesus calling a few men to follow him.” Those are the first words of Robert Coleman’s famous work, The Master Plan of Evangelism. This idea of making disciples all started by Jesus uttering a simple command for these men to drop what they were doing and become his disciple. History has been forever changed because of Jesus and His willingness to invest his life in a few for the sake of many.

About a year ago, I sat in my office with another staff member at my church as he recounted a meeting with one of his mentors. His mentor asked the men in the room, “Where are your disciples?” Little did I know that this would be a sentence that would ring in my head even a year later. This is a question I think each of us have to answer, and I pose this same question to you today, where are your disciples? This is not a question about your profession, but rather about your passion.

This is how Paul challenged Timothy. He writes in 2 Timothy 2:2, “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” That’s all it is! Find a man or woman and teach them so that they can teach another, and that person will teach another, and that person will teach another! This is how a lost world is won to Christ.

My challenge to you today is to invest your life in a few for the sake of reaching many with the Gospel. While Jesus obviously modeled evangelism for us on a mass scale, we must never forget that when He left the multitude, He went with the few. Mature believers in God’s church, who are your few? Ministers, businessmen, coaches, teachers, mothers, where are your disciples? Who are the two or three people God is calling you to invest your life in for His sake?

Here are a few resources to help you get started:

1. The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert E. Coleman
2. Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
3. A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders by Reggie McNeal
4. Self Confrontation: A Manual for In-Depth Biblical Discipleship

I have asked Zach Kennedy, the Minister of Creative Media at the First Baptist Church of Springdale, to be my guest blogger today on our subject for the week, “Leadership.”

Leading With Creativity

I am often pegged as a “creative,” as if there are some that are and some that just don’t have it. However, I suggest to you that we are all creative. You may not be an artist or a filmmaker, but if you are created in the image of the Creator (which you are), then you are creative.

Your imagination may be expressed in other avenues besides the arts. For instance, developing a business plan based off a new idea is a creative act. Landscaping your front yard each spring requires imagination. Getting four kids in the mini-van and keeping them entertained during the long summer days demands creativity.

One of the most common questions I get asked is, “How do you come up with new ideas all the time?” If I could answer that question, I would have a NY Times bestseller on my hands. There are, however, some simple things you can do to foster more creative thinking.

Most great ideas don’t come when you are trying to think of a great idea. Go ride a bike, take a walk, or drive through the countryside and often the creativity will begin to flow. For me, most of my ideas begin in the shower, so my gas bill is REALLY high when I need new ideas.

Write it down. Keep a notepad handy in the places where ideas most frequently come. My friend Matt Slaughter suggested opening a Jott account for this very reason. Simply call Jott and they will transcribe your idea and email it to you, all for free.

Bring other people in to make an idea better. Before you hit the ground running, show the plan to several other people who you consider to be creative and see if they have better ways to solve the problem.

You are creative. God designed you that way. Thank Him for the new ideas that come your way today.

Leading a Team

I had the opportunity to talk to a former CEO of a large pharmaceutical company. He told me about his first day on the job. Most of us don’t have to deal with crisis our first day on a new job.

On his first day, immediately there was a crisis. Patients were dying from liver damage as a result of an experimental drug. He called a meeting of all the leaders to assess the situation. Remember, this was his first day and he did not know most of the people that were assembled in the room.

Each leader reported on the current crisis and their recommendation on how to handle and respond to the crisis. As he listened to each person, he was thinking the following, “I knew that I didn’t necessarily have to all the right answers; rather, as a new leader, it was incumbent upon me to ask the right questions.”

After each leader reported, he said the following, “I want to be sure that we are focused on doing as much as we can for these patients and their families. I want to understand the potential and financial exposure, but the patients are top priority. I would like their well being to be the driver of our decisions. We must center our actions on the needs and interests of these patients. We must pick up the bill for all expenses incurred as a result of their illness. We need to communicate our desire to help in any way we can.”

His closing comments were the following, “Not only do we have the responsibility to do those things, but more importantly, we do them because it’s the right thing to do.”

The participants that morning recognized that their new CEO intended to treat them with respect, integrity, and excellence. They recognized that their leader was going to walk the talk.

Five of the fifteen patients died the following weeks. The company had acted professionally, responsibly, and compassionately and every effort had been made to do what was right – including determining factually what had gone wrong.

When we face crises at work or home, there is a right way to lead. The right way is led by your deeply held values. Organizations don’t make managing by values work, people do.

Key things to learn:

1. Clarity of our mission, purpose, and values
2. Communicate our mission and values
3. Align our daily practices with our mission and values

Leading from the Inside Out

Being an effective leader in any capacity is not usually an easy proposition, if a person desires to do it right. Many think that being a leader entitles one to perks and privileges. Real leadership is more than self-seeking. It is for those that embrace leading to make a difference in their lives. Leadership to me is about influencing others for Jesus Christ, influencing others to see Christ in everything about you…how you make decisions, how you solve difficult situations, how you avoid danger or pitfalls, how you guard your heart, and how you treat and respect those around you. Leadership takes on many forms throughout life. I serve a leadership role in various capacities in my life, as I am sure many of you do. The most common for me now are in my home, as a father and husband, in my occupation as a Director of Sales, and in a start-up venture called Top Gun. I want to share with you today a few things that have helped me along the way to grow as a leader in my life.

When I was 15 years old I began to really emphasize goal setting and planning in my life. I first started with my spiritual life and how I wanted to grow and develop. I then went into areas of academics and sports. As a Christian I knew that if I was to develop properly, the my core had to be about something more than just grades, records, and accomplishments.

An illustration that has impacted me is one that Pastor has shared. It is a picture of a target. The center circle is the Spirit, the next outer circle is the Soul (mind, will, emotions) and the last outer circle is the Flesh. When I am at my best I am leading from the inside (the Spirit) out (the Flesh). What does this mean? This means I am applying John 15 to my daily schedule and responsibilities. I am properly connected to the Vine (Christ) through prayer, through reading His word, through memorizing scripture, and through acts of service to the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit inside of me is controlling the Flesh and helping me operate with wisdom. It is easy to migrate to living with our own mind and flesh calling the shots. We allow ourselves to run at such a rapid pace, being pulled by our commitments and schedules, that we start doing it on our own. We may do well for a time, but eventually our strength runs out. Have you been there?

Some key passages of scripture I rely on often are 2 Corinthians 12:9, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 4:6-7, and Romans 12:1-2. The Lord searches our hearts daily, and our motives need to align with His. My experience and His word tell me that God is faithful. I trust that if I choose to lead from this type of approach in my personal and business life, then He will reward this activity. I want my Spirit to override my Soul and Flesh when it comes to daily living. I have found that this allows me to execute at a high level that yields a wiser perspective.

As I look back over the years, the decision to make my spiritual development a priority early in life has paid dividends in my leadership roles. I truly thank the Lord for His grace, love, and patience as I have learned through various trials and circumstances. Continuing to develop your core, your inside circle (the Spirit), is key to your leadership. A quality that I believe is so vital to own is that of humility. We all must learn this trait and apply it. Humility is a trait the world doesn’t understand. Great leaders in life have also been the great followers at one time or another. They were willing to be under before they were ever over anything. Many are never willing to be under. They don’t do authority well. I ask you to check your Spirit, and ask your self if you are leading from the inside out. Be humble, be others-seeking, and look for ways to impact those around you by allowing your Spirit to influence your Soul and your Flesh, so that you can make a difference today!

I have asked Josh Floyd, my oldest son and Athletic Director and Head Football Coach for Shiloh Christian School, to be my guest blogger today on our subject for the week, “Leadership.”

Leading The Next Generation Through The Game Of Football

I have the great privilege of investing in the next generation of leaders through coaching them about life through the game of football. Our main goal is to prepare our guys to be leaders who want to make a difference for the Lord. My coaching staff assists me in emphasizing these four things to this next generation of leaders:

Teamwork:

There is not a greater team sport than the game of football. You must have 11 people do the right thing on any given play in order to be successful. Every person has a role on this team and they must understand that every person/position on the team is equally important. Also, we must be unselfish. Nothing will hurt a team quicker than selfishness. These things are true for teams in the real world as well. If they can learn this with us, then they will be better husbands and fathers, as well as become successful in the business world.

Integrity:

A common definition of the word integrity or character is “what you do when no one is watching.” This is very true in the game of football. We relate this to the practice field and the weight room. As coaches, we won’t see every single thing in practice and every single rep in the weight room. We sure try to do this, but there is still a point where our guys have to decide for themselves that they want to do their best. Eventually, the truth will come out. We will “max out” in the weight room in early January, which means we will test our guys to see how much weight they can do on our main lifts. Then we will “max out” again in March. That’s where the truth comes out. If you improved your strength, then you probably worked as hard as you could. If not, then there were obviously times where you didn’t put forth your greatest effort. The same thing is true in life. You may get away with some things in life for a while, but eventually the truth will find you out. We want our guys to know that our integrity is “not for sale.”

Defining Success:

Another thing we want to teach our team is about true success in life. True success is not found in making a lot of money, having the biggest house, winning a High School State Championship or even playing in the NFL. Having true success is being a man of God and leading your family in the right direction. Being a successful man is being the true spiritual leader in the home. We really challenge our guys to understand this because many men “miss it” in their lives. We need more men to be real men in the home as well as in the business world.

Spending time in the Word/Prayer:

We challenge our guys on a daily basis to spend time reading their Bible and in prayer. One thing we challenge our guys to do is read one chapter a day in the book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs has such great wisdom for everyone. Who needs wisdom in their lives more than high school boys? If wisdom can be birthed in a high school young man, then just think what could happen with and through them as they mature in life.

These are just a few of the things that we try to do with our team. If we can teach our guys these few steps in their spiritual lives, then they really can be spiritual leaders in the next generation.

Enjoy these pictures from our 2008 Summer Freedom Celebrations at First Baptist Church, Springdale and The Church at Pinnacle Hills. 

This past Sunday was such a good night. On June 29th, we baptized over 60 people at the crosses. It was incredible. Here are some photos by Brian and Kara Armas of the baptisms as well as the great crowd we had that night.

Thank you, Craig Crismon, for sending us some wonderful pictures of our Fireworks at the Crosses event this past Sunday night.  Enjoy!