Because life is life, there are days that suck.

It won’t be anything you’ve done. It’s mostly stuff that will happen to you as a result of events that are totally beyond your control. Other people make bad decisions and you and others will bear the brunt of the consequences of their actions.

Because life is life, there are days that suck.

I know. I had one yesterday.

The thing about days like yesterday is that not only do they suck, they actually suck the life out of you. And unless you are intentional about replenishing all the suck of yesterday, we will lead poorly. We will lead poorly because we will lead re-actively. We rarely make great decisions when life has been sucked out of us. It is absolutely essential to our leadership and our organizations that we lead well.

The only one who is responsible for replenishing life back into you as a leader, is you. No one else will do this for you. You are responsible for your welfare.

So what is your go to replenishment plan? Is it healthy? Is it God-honoring? Do you have a plan? What re-energizes you? What fills you with joy? You need a plan before you need a plan. Read that last sentence again. Plan now. Have a go to plan that you know fills you back up with life.

Finally, if your day sucked because you made poor decisions. Well, that’s on you. Forgive yourself and figure out how you can prevent that from happening again. Finally, don’t make sucking a habit!

“Like”

We all “Like” it. Each of us derive a level of pleasure whenever someone “Like”s our photo, quote, or entry. In fact, I would like it very much if you “Like”d this post.

The culture of “Like”ing things that we agree with has resulted in several dangerous realities:

• We end up reading only those articles and ideas that already agree with what we believe
• The computer algorithms that regulate what shows up on our feed weed out those posts we disagree with, and only shows us those things that we already agree with
• The end result is we end up only seeing things we already agree with

The result is frightening.

Our growth as a culture and a people of ideas is stunted. It prevents us from having to wrestle with ideas, concepts, beliefs that are different than our own. But that is precisely how we grow and mature.

As a result, our society loses her ability to dialogue and discuss important issues. All we know how to do is to attack and disparage those we disagree with.

But the thing about pretty much any issue that’s important – gender roles, gun control, sexual identity, the war against terrorism, mental illness, the homeless, etc. – is that important issues have multiple perspectives and opinions. It is only by listening to and learning from differing views that we grow and gain a greater understanding. Thus, by living in a world where everyone already agrees with us, we have lost the ability to dialogue, learn, and grow.

So, I propose that we intentionally read ideas from news sites and web pages that we disagree with. Seek those out.

I propose that we engage in thoughtful, respectful conversations with people we disagree with…in person…over coffee…over beer…over a meal. Don’t do it on Facebook. Don’t do it by email. Don’t do it by texting. Have a real conversation, face to face.

You in?

If so, go ahead and click on that “Like” button!

I take the holy privilege and responsibility of preaching God’s word very seriously. On any given week, I spend about 15 hours studying and praying before a single word is put down on paper for the sermon…well, actually before a single letter is typed on my laptop, but that doesn’t sound as nice as “a single word on paper”.

The main thing I am asking during my study and prayer is, “God what do you want to say to our congregation?”

Our sermons at the Little Church and Lakewood Grace are planned out at least 6 months to a year in advance. And our sermons are almost always based on the books of the Bible. We go through different books of the Bible. We practice expository preaching.

Both pastor Brad and I take several weeks every year to get away by ourselves to be alone with God with two simple questions:

• “What do you want proclaimed to the congregations at the Little Church and Lakewood Grace?”
• “What does our congregation needs to hear from you?”

We take this business of listening to God very seriously. It’s uncanny how in so many instances, the sermons that God has us preaching, sermons that were planned months in advance, are exactly the sermons we needed to hear for all that was happening for that particular week.

The only explanation I have for this is – God. God did it. God did it again. God knew what we would need from him.

There are well-meaning people who may say something like this about our sermons.

• It’s too long – the most common one
• It’s too Bible based. I still don’t get that one
• We want more thematic or topical sermons – I can see that
• This is supposed to be a sermon, not a Bible study

Whenever I hear comments like this, as I am working on the sermon, I find myself wanting to please the people who make such comments. (If truth be told, all pastors want to please their congregation members). But this is an impossible task. What pleases one, will not please others.

But the biggest problem is that when I start down this rabbit trail, my focus is completely off. My job as a preacher is to ask, “What does God want me to proclaim? What does God want to say to the congregation?” And my job is to pray and study until that is clear.

When I start focusing on what Mr. _____ wants and what Ms. _____, I am focused on the wrong person.

Yes, the sermon has to relate to our lives. Both Brad and I try very hard to make it so.

The reason why we preach out of the books of the Bible is because, when I am preaching topical sermons, I already have an idea of what I want to preach and then look for the texts that support that. But this is me. I start with what I want to preach and then I find the Bible verses that support what I want to preach. And I don’t trust myself with that much power. And I think this is dangerous.

But when we are going through the books of the Bible, the preacher must honestly stand under the authority of God’s word and must prayerfully study and ask what God wants preached out of God’s word.

Maybe other preachers aren’t as selfish and struggle with sin and pride as this guy. But since I am a prideful and I am a sinner, for my sake and for our sake, I would rather stick with asking “God, what do you want to preach and say to the congregation this week?”