At some point this week, this month or this year, something good will come your way.  A promotion, an opportunity, an advancement, a raise, a new relationship, a new level of ‘success’.

What if every time something like that happened, you were to say to yourself: this is a trust.

Not “I deserved it”.  Not “I’ve always wanted this.”  Not “all that hard work finally paid off.”  Not “finally, I’m getting what’s coming to me.” Not even “wow this is cool” (okay, you can say that…just don’t stop there.)

What if instead, we just started saying “This is a trust.  I know he didn’t just give it to me for my benefit, he entrusted me with.  It’s a trust.”

What’s at stake is whether we believe that life and opportunities are about God, or whether we believe they are about us.  Our culture says they are about us.  But the scripture would say something different.

If you live like everything that comes your way is directed your way mainly for your benefit, you believe:

• This has come to me mostly for my benefit and the benefit of my family.
• I can use it any way I want.
• It doesn’t matter how I use it, because it’s mine.

If you view things as a trust, you believe:

• God likely didn’t give this to me solely for my benefit.
• I need to use it in the way that best honors God and others.
• It matters how I use it, because it’s not mine and I’m accountable.

I want to get into the habit of viewing all good things that come my way – every opportunity, reward, relationship, ability, advancement and gift – as a sacred trust.

How about you?  What do you believe about the good that comes your way?  How do you process it?  What helps you think this through?

Who do you admire?  I imagine that if you’re a preacher, you admire other preachers.  If you’re in kids ministry or student ministry, you’ve got a few leaders you follow. Graphic designers study and admire other graphic designers, musicians often follow other musicians. If you work in the marketplace, you admire other friends, colleagues or leaders in the field.

All of that is healthy.  To think there’s nothing to admire or learn from others is egotistical.

But sometimes admiring someone can lead you to want to be like them, or to be them, or – eek- even to be the next “them”.  Twitter, facebook, podcasts and this increasingly connected world make it so easy to watch someone else’s every move that I wonder whether some of us sometimes stop living our own lives and start living vicariously through others.

If you think that might be happening, here’s what to do: find a big red button and connect it to a loud buzzer and press repeatedly until you can’t stand it anymore and stop the behaviour.

Whenever I speak, write or lead, I feel the pressure to be better.  I listen to other speakers, watch other leaders and read other writers.  And once in a while I catch myself thinking “I wish I was __________” or “I wish I could be more like _________”.  This is when the stinkin’ loud buzzer should sound.  Right now.

Think about it…God will never hold you accountable for being someone he never created you to be.  He will not say “Carey, how come you weren’t more like Craig Groeschel or Andy Stanley?”  If God had wanted that, he would have made more Craig Groeschels and Andy Stanleys.   Good parents would never lay that pressure on their kids (“Hey, how come you’re not more like your friend Taylor?” – and those of you who had a parent who did that are wincing right now).  But sometimes we put that pressure on ourselves.

The only task before you (and me) is to take all the faith, talent, trust, ability and gifting God has given you and use it to be the best ‘you’ you can be.   God actually wants me to be more like Carey  - redeemed, forgiven and empowered Carey – but Carey still the same.  Ditto for you.

What will you be held accountable for?  Being ‘you’ in the context of the cross and tomb.  Nothing more. Nothing less.

So have the humility to learn from others, but then, go be you.  It’s the best gift you can give yourself, the best gift you can give God, and the best gift you can give the world.

My friend Chris Vacher has been spearheading an exciting project over the last year…a worship cd called Worship Rises.

It releases today on iTunes and I’d love for you to pick it up and, if you’re excited, tell your friends about it.  Chris is a great guy and awesome leader in the church.  He’s pulled together 32 worship pastors on this project (including Connexus’ own Andrew Walker)…the idea is to create music for the church by the church.

You can check out all the details on Chris’ blog.

I imagine you would expect in keeping with new blog disclosure policies that this is where I’m going to disclose that I was paid to blog about this.

Nope, I wasn’t.  I actually don’t have any personal stake in the project, although he did send me a few of the tracks from the EP for free last month. (But I don’t think that counts.)  I’m just telling you because I think Chris is a a great leader with a great idea.  Hope you enjoy it!

I’d love your input!  I’ve been invited to speak at a conference where the theme is “Game changer”.  I’ve been reflecting for a week now on some game-changers in my life…and I’m not sure what to choose.

There have been a few, but I really want to find one that resonates.

Sooo….

1. What’s been a game changer for you personally, spiritually, in ministry or in life?  What defining moment do you look back on and say “that pretty much changed everything?”
2. For those of you who know our ministry or me, what do you think a key game changer for us has been?  Sometimes the best person to judge that kind of thing is someone slightly outside an organization. So what do you think?
3. A third angle:  if you could pick any game changer to speak on, which one would you choose?

Love to hear your thoughts….over to you!

Need some encouragement to keep going in ministry?

A few times every year I see a passage that I swear someone added to the Bible since the last time I read it.  It just pops out…I just missed it before.  Had one of those experiences this morning.  I hope it encourages you.

From childhood we have watched
as everything our ancestors worked for—
their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters—
was squandered on a delusion. – Jeremiah 3:24

It’s as clear a picture  as any of what happens when people live life without God at the center – everything we work toward ends up squandered on a delusion.   Wow.  (You might read the whole chapter.  It’s fascinating.)

I’m not saying God might not be calling you out of ministry (that does happen), I’m just saying if you are called, keep at it.  Giving up your Sundays year after year is worth it.  That criticism you took for a wise decision you made was worth it.  Overcoming your sadness and pushing through was worth it.  The extra prayer and extra sacrifice financially was worth it.  That relational risk you took inviting your friend to church was worth it.   That extra static that seems to visit your home because you’re in ministry is worth it.

Because everything else is well, a delusion in the end.  Christ is who it’s all about.

One day we’ll all look back and wonder why we ever thought it wasn’t worth it.  But in the meantime, we need to remind each other it is.

It is.  It’s worth it.  Keep going.  The mission is not in vain.

Some insightful discussion last week around this question: where are the great leaders in this generation of church?  What’s keeping the next generation of leaders from using their gifts in ministry?

So if the best and brightest of the current and next generation aren’t bring their gifts into full time ministry, why not?  Here are some initial thoughts.  I’d love yours:

• Not enough risk.  Face it, the church is often not known for blazing trails.  In an era when the iPhone 4 is a huge story, clearly we need a better plot line (and yes, I’ll be getting an iPhone 4 this month like lots of other Canadians).  When the marketplace is leading the way, the church needs to create a better story.  We have the most powerful story, after all, at the center of our faith. The church is known for boring and timid.  We need to get known for being radical.  Talent gravitates toward the most compelling plot line.
• The wrong kind of scandal. Sadly, when the church is not boring, we often embrace the wrong kind of scandal.  When headlines spring from moral failure, emotional manipulation and eye-rolling born of intellectual simplicity, we really resist attracting intelligent people.
• An absence of power. Sometimes I wonder if the church suffers from a divine power failure.  In some churches, things are slow and traditional enough that you don’t need God – a semi-retired bureaucrat could run things.  In others, we claim power, but the power is just smart leadership or semi-charismatic emotionalism…is it really of God?  Of course in some places it is, but maybe there are just not enough churches like that. What would happen if God really started to move in people’s lives – not just in some churches – but in the church? Would people come running?
• Underchallenged leaders. Numerous people manage, lead, and care for huge numbers of people and major responsibilities each week, only to show up at church and be asked to wash dishes or park a car.  Don’t get me wrong – parking cars and washing dishes are awesome ways to serve.  But when that’s all we ask people to do – the church misses out.  What if people were asked to bring their best thinking to the Kingdom, not their leftover thinking – or not being asked to think at all?
• Overwork. I resonate with the comment that we’ve worked ourselves to death in this generation of church (kinda guilty of it myself – I’ll preach about it in August).  The other side of the coin is this though – some in ministry are just plain lazy. So which is it?   But what if ministry became a place where human energy combined with divine energy to produce fruit no one could claim credit for?  What if the answer was not just more of our power – but more of God’s power? The market place can’t compete with that.

What if we risked more – took the right kind of risks?  What if we tapped more into God’s heart and power and really saw the church explode with that?

Do these things keep people with great gifts for ministry from doing ministry?  What else do you see?