Good time with Doug Pollock

We had a great session today with author of God Space.

How do you keep the mission alive instead of keeping the machinery going?

How do we re-engage the dis-engaged?

Your turf or go to their turf?

Can you listen and discover their reality?

We engage one touch, one conversation at a time.

We create safe space.

Understand God is always at work to awaken a heart.

Conversations help people discover who they are and what they believe.

Context reveals their context.

Acknowledge by listening.

Trust is gained by having genuine motives. I care, really, I care.

Change your words. Change your world.

Good questions help us understand a persons background, struggles, passion and belief system.

Engaging means fully aware, fully focused, fully in the game.

Creating God Space What leading leaders need to know.

Just had a great talk with my friend Doug Pollock the author of God Space. We've traveled together a bit and always enjoy our conversations.

Here's some random thoughts that emerged after our conversation.

political influences within a church can kill life, momentum, destroy honor and limit genuine creativity.

one guy has served faithfully within his organization for over 40 years. the newly hired powers that be, want him to be put out to pasture. what's wrong with this picture? think about it. 40 years of faithful experience, gone because of political influences.

the fear of man brings a snare. when leaders throw the, 'you'll do what i say because i'm your boss and you could be fired' card, it may be past time to move on. oh, by the way the card is often unspoken, but intuitively understood by all.

don't allow your destiny to be determined by the actions and faith of others. example, get your leading, guidance from your personal relationship with Jesus. don't allow others to dictate your destiny. an other persons direction for your life is a muddy path.

stand for what you believe. don't allow others to pressure you to do anything that violates your conscience. one person stated, 'i'll submit to authority because they are in authority, i'll submit to something because i can be flexible and flow. but i won't submit to authority if it violates a clear Biblical principle or violates my conscience.' one, highway or the bye way, leader once told me 'Steve I detect some rebellion in you...' really? I'm still not drinking the cool-aid.

as the saying goes 'before you jump in bed with someone make sure you can trust that someone.' some jaded-been-twice-burned people ask the question, 'are there really any safe people out there?' i personally also wonder.

focus is all important. focusing on the main reason why we are doing what we do keeps the energy flowing. do you and i know the Big Why we are doing what we are doing?
tip: Jesus had passion for the world and for the church. the great commission is not the great suggestion.

being totally engaged in a conversation is necessary to encourage another person. one salesman took a high-end client out to a game of golf. the problem, the salesman stayed on his phone throughout the game. the client needless to say was not impressed. the salesman may have lost a $1,000,000 account. i wonder what we miss by not being fully engaged.

tip:when you are meeting someone for lunch, or for a conversation. turn off your phone, intentionally focus and become engaged.

some leaders have an outlandish puffed up high view of themselves, which leads to the spirit of arrogance and entitlement. Peter responded, "I too am a man just like you." seems some of the people wanted to make Peter a 'god.' some leaders in our generation love being a god.

some christian leaders have forgotten they are first of all servants, second of all, they are no big deal...apart from Jesus they can do nothing. thirdly, they have forgotten all they have and can be comes down from the Father of Lights. it's a gift, humility and gratitude acknowledges this fact.

influence is one of our strongest tools to effect change in others. influence is best expressed in the context of relationships via a consistency in life style. tip: read Paul's encouragement to Timothy and Titus. and Peter's reflection in Peter. pastoral epistles are called pastoral for a reason.

1 Tim 4 NLT
Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them. Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecies spoken to you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you.  Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right, and God will save you and those who hear you. 

will i be remembered for how not to lead and how not to treat others? or will i be remembered for how to lead and how to treat others? our choice. 

one of the saddest commentaries from people i've met, who are jaded by the church and their  leader, is the fact they have learned more what not to do and say, than what to do and say. being a positive example in all areas of life is priceless. some leaders need to take a class in social etiquette. having a focused awareness of others and honed social skills are important.

one prominent church leader when entering into a car show room where i was standing, was described by the service manager as, 'here comes that jerk again.' nice commentary not. made me wonder where and if my jerkyness was showing.


knowledge puffs up. love builds up. in all our growing in knowledge: seminars, books, pod-casts, think-tanks, and God encounters... our love for God and others should always be the aim.

I often question myself, am i increasing in tolerance, flexibility, and growing in love? true knowledge gained should be reflected by an authentic life of service and love.

Easter Egg Hunt flavor

 

Giant Easter Egg Hunt!

sara shultz invitation design

What do you get when you mix 15,000 Easter Eggs, over 100 volunteers, clowns, huge blow up bouncy castles, hundreds of hotdogs, drinks, face painting, game zone, helium balloons and many, many kidz and parents?…A Giant Community Easter Egg Hunt that's what!...happening Saturday, April 23rd at Delco Park 11am…

This event began 8 years ago when I first arrived in Dayton...we booked a smaller park, Indian Riffle, and were overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up, so we moved to Delco Park…even bigger crowds...a few years ago Easter was early, March...windy, rainy all the way up to the day of the event...I thought about canceling the hunt the night before. I went to sleep. During the night I had a vivid dream where I saw cars lining up. In part of the dream I yelled to Scott, as he was running to the cars to tell people we cancelled, 'Don’t Cancel!' I woke up. We didn't cancel the hunt and had a good time…

Below our track record:

• Year 1-2 beautiful warm weather
• Year 3 a swamp
• Year 4 snow on the field, we developed a new workout exercise, snow kick. most of us couldn't walk the next day. we had to shuffle to kick the snow off the area, just to see the eggs.
• Year 5 ice storm and the Easter Egg Drive through
• Year 6 rainy but it cleared up for the day until the last
• Year 7 windy, no, really windy, kids flying in the air blowing into the lake, tents flying through the air

• Year 8 gonna be a great day!

What's in the bag? Kindness to go.

Kindness to go

What's in the bag?
I purchase the bags and the sparkle filler from American Paper and Plastics West Chester OH nice paper lined bags various colors. Sparkle filler that we place in the bag gives the bag some eye popping color, and buzz...we've discovered that people like to dig past the sparkle filler to see what items of interest are in the bag.

Items:
1 package of Grandmas Cookies
1 bag of peanuts
2 granola bars
2 rolls of lifesaver peppermints
1 peanut butter crackers
a sprinkling of peppermint round candy
1 box of Kleenex tissues optional.
1 pack of Cracker Jacks

1 bag of potato chips
a sprinkle of mixed candy
sparkle filler
1 connect card attached to the bag and 2 connect cards in the bag on top
1 instruction sheet for people doing the outreach.

Kindness to Go! 2nd Saturday of Kindness

This weekend was a Kindness To Go! weekend and 2nd Saturday of Kindness weekend...We chose the 'give them the bag' outreach for both.

On Saturday four teams headed out into the community in Beavercreek, Kettering, Dayton, and Centerville. Each team received 30+ bags to give to shop keepers in the area. The outreach was scheduled from 10am to 12pm. Interestingly, there were several new people who came along. 

The stories were pretty amazing. One lady, 'The Vineyard. I've heard about you.' When asked, 'What have you heard?' She replied, 'You're that church who cares for our community and always seems to be doing good things.'

One of the highlights during the training instruction time (10 to 15 min) was the story from Greg and Julie. 

Julie is a child care manager for a large child care group. A few years ago one of our teams visited her center and delivered a bag, just to say 'we care', and 'thanks for being in our community'. A year and a half later Julie and her husband were making some life decisions and decided to go back to church. The decision was 10th on the list of 10. They discussed were to go and she mentioned, 'Let's go to the bag church.' They visited, sat in the back. to ensure a quick escape, and began to attend. Both encountered Jesus, were baptized and Greg is now on staff. Amazing.

Kindness to Go!

It's always fun to watch people as they realize it's a KTG weekend...Big smiles, some people usually new, pausing to read the instruction sheet then smile and grab a bag. Those in the know usually grab their KTG item on the way in to the service to ensure they are locked and loaded for the outreach.

Here's the info how we develop this outreach. I think 1/3 of the people will participate this is an average. So if you have a 500 member church. Maybe 150 bags.

Behind the scenes:6 to 10 hrs

Team: orders the items from Sam's Club online

Team: drives to Sam's picks up items

Team: Unload items and prepares for packing

Teens: Set up tables, packs 500 bags, place bags in safe secure room. 30 teens x 30 minutes. We share the value of outreach through encouraging teens to participate in pre-outreach and 2nd Saturday of Kindness.

Team: Goes through bags, fills any light bags, puts iridescent film into bag and places two connect cards in bag.
Team: prints out Instruction sheet and has them photo copied enough for every bag
Team: Place bags on our Kindness To Go! cart and on tables for each of the 3 services

Church on Weekend: grabs bags and goes out into the community to share God's love on the weekend or through the week.

Our Instruction sheet.
Kindness to Go! Ok, How’s does it work?
It’s simple:
Step one: Grab a bag
Step two: Transport the bag to your favorite restaurant, after or before the meal hand the bag to the person serving. Say, ‘This is a small gift for you and your team.’

key… tip big and smile.
Or

Step one: Grab a bag
Step two: Take it with you the next time you go grocery shopping, put the bag at the end of your shopping for the person checking.
Or
Step one: Grab a couple of bags
Step two: Take the bags to your local police station, fire station, emergency room or post office. Say, ‘Just thinking about you this time of year.’

When asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’ Reply, ‘Just showing you God’s love in a practical way.'
Or
Be creative...choose your location, smile and have some fun!

If you participated and have a great story to tell. Please reply to post.

Why Kindness?

"Kindness gives birth to kindness."

Author:Sophocles (447 BC)

Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.
Chinese Proverb

"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."

Author:Winston Churchill

"I've learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel."

Author: Maya Angelou 

Why Kindness?

Biblical kindness: believers are called to be and to act as Jesus would toward the people within their sphere of influence. steve bowen

Kindness, by definition, is a deliberate act to bring a person near to God.

(Nelson’s Bible Dictionary)

Planed acts of kindness are more than just doing something nice for people. The acts of kindness are intentional acts that demonstrate the grace, generosity and mercy of God toward an individual or toward a community in a practical way.

An encouraging impression of grace is clearly presented by the activity of kindness when the act of kindness is genuinely reflected through our attitudes and through our words.
steve bowen

Jesus our example...

Jesus was the most friendly, open-hearted person on the planet. People wanted to be in his presence. There was something genuinely real that was attractive. I can't imagine anyone being attracted by a weird, ethereal, blue eyed Jesus.

He was grounded. He was different. He actually actively cared for people. He was a person full of compassion, mercy and grace. He was emotionally moved to action. He cared. When people were hungry, He fed them. When people were sick, he healed them. When people were downcast, he encouraged them.

His plan was to empower his disciples to do the same.

The religious leaders of the day didn't understand his open-heartedness expressed through his action. Instead of drawing near, they became closed, and hard-hearted focusing upon the law, the traditions of men instead of being caring people extending grace and mercy.

Jesus was invited to parties. He went to dinners with tax collectors. He allowed questionable people to be in his sphere of influence. He didn't flinch when prostitutes expressed their gratefulness for his forgiveness. 

He was kind, and refreshingly different than the other religious leaders of the day, and He acted and spoke as one who had true authority.

Yet, the religious leaders of the day didn't understand, were blinded to his mission and branded him as 'a friend of sinners', a 'glutton and a wine drinker'.

His short list of kindness found in the book of John...

His first miracle, water to wine…
Remember? He was at a party…they ran out of wine, the host was in trouble, what did Jesus do? He served, meeting their need, by giving away the best wine. This first simple, practical, need meeting action is described as how he first 'revealed his glory.'

Does this mean serving people somehow reveals the very glory of God? Yes.

Feeding the 5,000 X deux…
The people were tired and hungry. He fed them and began to demonstrate, establish and teach His disciples the principles of caring, sharing, and generosity.

He healed all who came to Him…
He demonstrated the kindness and love of God by healing all who came to him. He went around 'doing good'…and…'healing all who were sick or oppressed'


His last act of service before the cross…
He washed the disciple’s feet, leaving an example...encouraging them to serve as He had served…


His last act of service post cross, before his ascension?
Think about it. He had just risen from the dead. He had conquered death and hell, through his death on the cross and his resurrection. He had ensured salvation for all who would believe in him. He had been honored by the Father as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He had received all power and authority. 

So, what does he choose to do for his disciples to reflect his love and care for them?
He chooses to cook and feed the disciples a fish breakfast on a beach. Amazing!

A short read of the gospels reveals He continually declared and demonstrated his life mission… 

The Son of Man did not come to be served,

but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

Jesus Mark 10:45

Why kindness?

We live in a culture where our words alone no longer make an impact. Our culture is shouting, show us. Be the Christ(little c) you represent. If you say you follow him, then be him... in your attitudes, in your words and by your actions.

Kindness as a lifestyle is a first step toward redefining Jesus to your world.
steve bowen

Imagine what it would look like if every believer in your city chose to express His kindness toward the people within their sphere of influence, to intentionally seek to help, to serve, to care, to support others actively for just one week or even one day

Perhaps, the people we love and serve would want to discover for themselves why we have a passion for living. Perhaps our caring attitudes, actions and words would blow past their apathy and indifference. 

Perhaps they would want to meet this Jesus who encourages His friends to be Him in action. Perhaps they too would want to join His band of faithful followers and seek to actively and radically change their world.

 "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."

John 20:21 NIV