Fuel

“Just the very act of letting go of money, or some other treasure, does something within us. It destroys the demon ‘greed’.” – Richard Foster

Nothing speaks more loudly in a person’s life than generosity. When it comes from the heart, true generosity permeates every area of our lives, overflowing in obvious manifestations of benevolence toward others.

Giving has been attributed to the highest level of living.

Generous people have this abiding truth lodged at the core of their being – painted across the canvas hearts. They don’t focus the brunt of their time on what they can get from others but spend their precious time and valuable energy on what they can give to them.

This is the heart of generous people and influential leaders. It’s also the heart of the Gospel; “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ESV)

Generosity isn’t restricted to monetary giving or charitable contributions, although that is important and perhaps the truest form of defeating personal greed, as Richard Foster admonishes. It may mean spending more time with your family, mentoring an at-risk young person, developing a prospective leader, writing an encouraging note to a co-worker, volunteering more in your community, or sacrificing your own desires for the good of the team.

Sir Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”

In his book, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, John Maxwell offers five great ways to cultivate generosity in your life:

1. Be grateful for whatever you have.

2. Put people first.

3. Don’t allow the desire for possessions to control you.

4. See money as a resource.

5. Develop the habit of giving.

In all of your doing today, take some time to think generously about how you can make a LIFE and not merely make a living. Your generosity is helping shape eternity. Don’t take it lightly – violently thrust yourself into generous living!

“No more Mister Nice Guy…” I think Alice Cooper had the right idea!

It is so easy to get caught up in making “pleasing people” our mission in life. Especially those of us who care about others so much. One of the defining marks of authentic Christianity is that followers of Jesus walk in love. But chew on this for a moment: Jesus loved people more than any other human entity in the history of the world, and yet the person, message, and mission of Jesus has “ticked off” more people in history than any other historical figure.

One of the reasons we get tripped up into “people-pleasing” is that we don’t want to be labeled as someone who doesn’t care. But as we learn from Jesus, we see that “people-pleasing” doesn’t mean we are more “loving” people… and contrariwise, it sometimes even means we are NOT loving at all – we are merely enabling people in their dysfunction.

Being labeled as the nice guy doesn’t translate to LOVE in the heavenlies. Sometimes it’s even translated into a much deeper reality of not caring at all (apathy and negligence) – though we try and dress it up as something altogether more spiritual sounding like “compassionate” or “empathetic.”

When in reality, it’s nothing short of social flattery that just wants to be deemed as getting along with everybody.

Healthy, functional parents understand this. If your sole agenda as a parent is to be the nice guy, I will one day be visiting your child in a juvenile detention center via Breakaway Outreach (product placement, lol). Parenting means I have a responsibility to rear my children into responsible adults which necessitates tough love at times which is not always popular with those we love most (our children). Love requires the discipline of doing what is RIGHT even when it makes others feel uncomfortable in the moment.

Jesus always had his Father’s approval at the forefront of his ambition and because of that focus, the man who loved more than anyone in history also offended more than anyone else. He didn’t massage people’s insecurities by placating them with nice words when the truth would set them free. He had their soul in mind, not their feelings.

Every family member, Pharisee (religious leaders), and political zealots in Jesus’ time had their own personal agenda for him. Even his own disciples had an agenda for Him. If Jesus’ goal was to be the “nice” guy, he would’ve appeased them all, consequently reducing his mission and his value to niente (nothing). But because he stuck to his mission, he carried out his love in a redemptive way that valued people more than just pleasing them.

Get this, our incessant need to please people devalues us and it devalues those we are trying to please. It shrinks our personal mission in life and robs others of God’s redemptive purposes in their lives. If Jesus tried to please everyone in his path he would’ve never made it to the cross. Redemption would not be available to us today if Jesus was merely trying to please people. Instead, he zeroed in on his MISSION and brought more value to humanity than he ever would’ve had he wanted to be remembered as the “nice” guy.

If you want to help shape eternity and bring value to people in the world, for heaven’s sake, stop trying to please everybody! Don’t devalue people or yourself by people-pleasing. Play to the audience of ONE. Aim to please your heavenly Father and you will bring more good to this earth than merely being seen as the “nice” guy.

Like Jesus, if you try to please everyone along your path, you will never reach your God-purposed destiny.

1 Thessalonians 2:4 - “On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.”

Galatians 1:10 - “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

“Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.” – Charles Spurgeon

I love that quote! You can’t separate yourself from His “mission” and call yourself His “follower.” The two are immutably wedded. To be about the mission of Jesus Christ IS to be his follower.

“The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus you must renounce comfort as the ultimate value of your life.” – John Ortberg

This quote from John Ortberg has been messing with me all morning. How much of our lives are spent in an endless pursuit to obtain comfort and security?

The essence of following Christ means that we are called out of comfort. It is no longer the driving force in our lives. Only when we move beyond this insatiable desire to have a comfortable life, and only then, are we able to fully and passionately embrace every risk and adventure that God has purposed for our lives. And only in that sweet spot of risk and adventure do we find ourselves to be everything we were made for.

If we are to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, we must come to the uncomfortable engagement with the cross, where we renounce comfort as the ultimate value of our lives.

Too many professing Christians want to take a new “middle road” today. But Francis Chan reminds us of the words of Jesus that describe our journey as a narrow road leading to life, while cautioning us that there is a broad road that leads to destruction (Matt. 7:13-14). Truth is, our middle roads have as many misguided agendas as the broad roads. They both end up at the same place, regardless of the “spiritual” labels we put on them.

Our WORDS tend to be the thing that gets us into trouble more than any other thing in our lives. Our WORDS have tremendous consequence don’t they?

Words can be our greatest source of inspiration… our greatest means of motivation… and our most effective tool in reconciliation. They are one of many different expressions of our worship. And yet words can also be the most destructive area of our lives.

James, in essence, says that if we can change our words – we can change our lives.

“For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life…” James 3:2-6

Most everything in our society is dictated by CULTURE, including our lives.

Every society, church, community, business, and people group has a “culture”. That culture is a conglomerate comprised of the collective culture of all its individuals. Companies succeed or fail based on the culture their leaders and employees cultivate. Presidents are elected or ousted due to political cultures and ideological climates that loom over the nation. Marriages rise or fall due to the kind of culture that is created in the home (Respect vs. Disrespect). Children grow up either socially functional or dysfunctional based upon the culture they are raised in. Churches either grow or die as a result of the culture they have fostered. Everything hinges on culture, and cultures dictate the course of society and the world at large.

Think about this: your words create a CULTURE that dictates the course of your life, and promotes a culture of either death or life for those around you. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

What is your culture?

• Do your words repel people from you, or do they attract people?
• Do your words build people up, or do they tear them down?
• Do your words point people to God, or do they push them away?
• Do your words make people feel blessed, or cursed, after they’ve been in your company?
• Do your words strengthen community, culture, and organization, or do they divide?
• Do your words create a culture of death, or do they create a culture of life?

Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

Can you imagine what every corporation, church, and social group would look like if we all applied this verse daily? Imagine the work that could be accomplished, the businesses that would blossom, the relationships that would be restored, the pain we would spare so many children growing up in dysfunctional homes, the churches that would rise up out of divisiveness and become a unified force of hope for ALL nations.

Our seemingly “little” words carry a powerful punch every day of our lives. And if you want to turn your life around, start with your words and the innermost thoughts that steer them.

Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words. Be careful of your words, for your words become your actions. Be careful of your actions, for your actions become your habits. Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character. Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny. – Anonymous

James reveals that our words reveal more than a tongue condition; they reveal a heart condition.

“From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.” (James 3:10-12)

Jesus said “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)

In other words, venomous words spring forth from venomous hearts. We need to ask God to take away the root of selfish ambition, pride, envy, jealousy, resentment, bitterness, rage, malice, gossip, deceit, and the spirit of unforgiveness in our hearts. And we need to ask Him to replace it with a heart of forgiveness, love, meekness, edification, kindness, and generous hearts that produce uplifting talk and positive energy through the right words spoken over our lives.

This is God’s covenantal promise to you over your words…

Psalm 34:12-13 “What man is there who desires life and loves MANY days, that he may see GOOD? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.” This passage is reiterated by the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 3:10. According to Scripture, our capacity to experience “many” “good” days here in this lifetime is contingent upon the use and control of our tongue. Is yours in check or is it more like a “little” spark about to set ablaze an entire forest?

Write down an EDIFICATION PLAN. Make a note to remind yourself how you will go about encouraging and building up other people this week. Then watch and see the course of your life slowly begin to change its direction.

I would love to hear your feedback on the action plan you develop!

Organizations, businesses, ministries, and churches today need more ‘Playmakers,’ not more critics! There is no shortage of the latter, but always a shortage of the former.

Playmakers change the game just by showing up and they do the little things that lead to big results. They add value to their teammates. Although they can make mistakes and drop the ball sometimes, they are resilient, dealing quickly and healthily with conflict by bringing resolution for the good of the team.

For playmakers, it’s more about winning rather than getting the credit. They are God’s difference-makers. They change the game and cause others to rise above mediocrity by motivating through example. They not only lead the way, but also speak words of encouragement to their teammates.

It’s one thing to be a critical thinker, but something very toxic to be a chronic critic.

Faith and mission are not spectator sports. They require intentionality. If you’re not in the battle you will have a clean uniform (a critic’s uniform is always clean). If you have too much time on your hands to criticize others you may be too bored with your life. This is a good indication you’re not anywhere near the battlefront. That’s where the opposition is at its greatest. Its folks who are doing the most for God that experience the most adversity at times. They are God’s difference-makers (their uniforms are invariably always dirty and stained). Troops at the front don’t have time to disparage one another with criticism. They have the real enemy in focus.

Critics vs. Warriors

The world is full of critics. The church has had its share of critics. And in every arena there are spectators and warriors. Warriors may be marred with scars from battles lost, but they fight on to accomplish remarkable feats. Spectators are clean and scar-free, yet typically do the most analyzing and criticizing of the warriors. They merely observe and disparage the warriors. Spectators watch and grade how the battle is being fought. Warriors go to the battlefront. They are the ones who matter in the end.

I love this quote that I taped on the inside cover of my Bible years ago:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt, “Man in the Arena” Speech given April 23, 1910
26th president of US (1858 – 1919)

A critic’s soul is usually cold and timid. A warrior’s soul is vibrant, passionate, and daring. Inspiration emanates from warriors. Disheartenment emanates from the overly critical and cynical soul.

Brian Houston said, “I’d rather be an ARTIST than art critic – FILM maker than film critic – MUSO than music critic – CHURCH BUILDER than church critic!”

Are you building toward, or tearing away from God’s kingdom agenda? Are you a warrior or a critic?

Last year, I taught on a series of messages called In The Trenches. I had been going back over the notes of that series recently and was reminded of some healthy principles I wanted to share with my friends, family, and fellow believers.

If the Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation then we are caught up in a struggle of epic proportions. We are caught up in a temporal, yet brutal warfare over the souls of men, women, and children. This temporal warfare will lead to eternal and irreversible outcomes… and the window of opportunity we’ve been given to reach our world with the Gospel is so short.

That’s why we must make every moment count! We do that by choosing our battles wisely.

Spiritual warfare is unavoidable. Life is a fight and we can’t avoid the tussle. In the trenches it gets messy. We must learn how to fight, but more importantly we must learn WHERE to fight – where to expend ourselves.

We’ve all known Christians who get caught up in fighting the wrong battles. They end up scrapping it out with each other instead of engaging the real enemy and fighting for the redemptive cause of Jesus Christ to transform lives with the Gospel. The tragedy with these unnecessary conflicts is that the only one who wins is the devil and his emissaries.

As Christ Followers, we are called to a much higher calling than fighting amongst each other. We are called to fight alongside each other to help shape eternity and make heaven more beautiful.

One of the most defining moments we can ever experience is when we come to understand that our actions and relationships here on earth, really DO have a determining consequence in shaping eternity. When we come to grips with that we become more accountable to others, and ourselves while adding value to kingdom purposes.

A couple of years ago, Perry Noble declared: “I am pretty much through fighting with Christians. I can’t – the Lord is showing me that, more and more, we are on the same team… AND that Christians who think they are always right and feel it is their job to discipline and correct the world are drunk… drunk on their own pride and arrogance and cannot be reasoned with.”

Noble went on to say we should be “PIT BULLS” about the vision, “but fighting among Christians is something I do not have time for – Matthew 16:18 is happening and I simply refuse to come down off the wall to involve myself in theological arguments that haven’t been solved in hundreds of years…and never will be!!!”

I made a similar declaration as a new years’ resolution at the start of 2010. The older I get the more I realize I don’t have time or stamina for foolish arguments. When you expend yourself in them, you have no energy left to fight the battles that really matter. I am committed to doing everything I can to avoid foolish arguments with other believers and committed to fighting the RIGHT battles in my lifetime.

In 2 Timothy 2:23, Paul warned Timothy, a young church leader, “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.”

Paul knew that stupid arguments don’t just stifle those involved with them, but they impact eternity forever. They rob us of time we can never get back, energy and passion that should be reserved for Great Commission harvesting, and deteriorate our physical health so that we are not able to finish strong in our lifetime.

“Stupid arguments” deter God’s HOPE dealers from taking HOPE to a lost and broken world – a world DESPERATE for spiritual answers. Don’t let yourself get tripped up by them. Make a declaration in your life to FIGHT the RIGHT battles from this day forward!

On our recent trip to Florida we had some friends of ours take our family out on a VIP private tour to swim with the Manatees in Crystal River. We boated out to the site and were instantly surrounded by these huge creatures swimming all around the boat. Our guide jumped right in and started snorkeling with them. I followed and expected Steph, my 8-yr old, to jump right in behind me… it didn’t happen. She stood paralyzed in fear on the deck.

Steph is typically the daredevil in our family. She gets that from her Momma. So I was somewhat taken aback to see her afraid of this experience. In this moment she was stuck. I hadn’t seen her this fearful in a long time. Ironically, it was the youngest, Mackenzie, who was the first to get in the water with me followed by Zack, our 6-yr old.

I gently urged Steph to get in but she wouldn’t, and I didn’t want to pressure her so I took the other two over to pet the Manatees. A few minutes later Steph was in tears. I knew her dilemma. She didn’t want to miss this experience but she was terrified to get in the water. To add to her regret, our guide had an underwater camera shooting video and pictures of this epic adventure. Steph has seen Shark Week on Discovery and was determined to play it safe here! The water was too intimidating in itself, let alone these huge marine mammals also known as “Sea Cows.”

In that defining moment, I made my daughter this solemn promise: “Honey, I can’t promise you that in life it will always be SAFE to jump into the ‘waters,’ but I can promise you this, If you don’t jump, you will be watching this video later and you will regret not being in the picture.”

I am convinced that at the end of our years it will be regrets of inaction that far outweigh the regrets of action in our lives. In other words, we will be more regretful over not being in the picture at all (playing it safe) because we were afraid to jump, rather than being in the picture and looking silly, vulnerable, and even feeling like a failure at times.

That’s all it took for my little 8-yr old princess to conquer her gripping fear and jump into the deep. She got a hold of the reality that if she played it “safe,” she would regret it forever. All of a sudden danger became an adventure to live rather than a fear to avoid.

Thucydides once said, “The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.”

As Lee Ann Womack artistically reminds us, “And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.”

I’m so glad that when my little girl was faced with the choice to sit it out or dance, she chose to dance. She lived fearless as she met her perceived danger with reckless abandon and ultimately swam with the giants that day.

I’m so glad that Moses, when faced with the fear of playing it safe, instead chose to dance by confronting Pharaoh to free his people from slavery. I’m so glad that David, instead of playing it safe with the sheep, decided to dance with destiny by challenging Goliath and the Philistines. Peter didn’t cower in the boat; he danced with Jesus on the water. And what about Esther? She had everything to lose by approaching the king uninvited, but she didn’t play it safe when destiny was on the line. She danced.

That’s my prayer for all my children as they grow. When they are faced with the choice of playing it safe or dancing with destiny by recklessly abandoning to God’s call on their lives, I pray they dance.

I am so glad that all my children are in the video below. They didn’t stay in the boat – they chose to DANCE. Will you do the same when faced with the fears in your life?

“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain.. and most fools do.” – Dale Carnegie

Do you have a critical spirit or do you have a “can-do” spirit?

Or let me ask you the question in these terms: do you REPEL people from your life due to a CYNICAL nature, or do you ATTRACT people to your life due to a JOYFUL spirit and optimistic nature?

We are all either repelling people or attracting people. And a critical spirit is one of the most repelling characteristics of any human being. There are many damaging aspects to a critical nature, but I want to focus on a few major ones:

1. A damaging aspect of a critical spirit is that it prevents you from seeing and appreciating all the GOOD that GOD is actively doing in the world… and the PEOPLE he is using to bring about hope and change.

Invariably, Christians who spend the most time criticizing others are the same Christians who have no mission of their own. When you get consumed with the goodness of God in your life and are living for the mission of making disciples and serving others, it is hard to be critical. When you lack that purpose and mission in your life you find yourself constantly criticizing those who do. When we are overly critical, we fail to see the good God is doing and the people he is doing it through, regardless of whether we agree with their methodology or not.

2. It robs individuals of their greatest potential.

Are you a HOPE killer or a HOPE giver? Do you empower the lives of others or cause them to shrink back and lose confidence? After Moses sent the twelve spies into the Promised Land, only two of the twelve came back with a “can-do” approach. The other ten caused the rest of the Israelites to shrink back in fear with their negative report.

Contrast that with what is said of Caleb: “But my servant Caleb, because he has a DIFFERENT SPIRIT and has followed me FULLY, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.” Because Caleb had a “can-do” spirit he was able to see what others didn’t and go where others wouldn’t go.

Unfortunately, the negative report brought back by the cynical spies damaged the confidence of others and caused them to miss what God had promised. Cynical people are dream killers to everyone around them. They rob people of HOPE. As followers of Jesus Christ and bearers of GOOD NEWS, we should be the greatest HOPE DEALERS in the world. But unfortunately, too many people associate Christianity with BAD NEWS rather than GOOD NEWS because of critical and condemning people.

3. It disunites teams and dismembers organizations: nothing works against the unity of a team spirit like that of a cynical and critical outlook.

It undermines leadership, creates a divided focus, and distracts people from a single purpose and unified vision. Great movements of God have always come as a result of people losing themselves in something greater than themselves. One is too small a number for greatness but it can be all that is needed to stunt the growth of any organization, business, church, or team. One person spreading cynicism in an organization can cause more harm than ten people trying to cultivate singleness of purpose. A little leaven affects the entire lump. Wouldn’t it be a

But great things can happen when individuals lay aside their critical approach with a “can-do” attitude toward vision.

4. Perhaps the most damaging aspect of a critical nature is that it cultivates a judgmental attitude that condemns every one else and the good they are trying to accomplish… while bringing spiritual DEATH to the CRITIC.

The critical person finds themselves tearing down everything and everyone around them. They never build anyone or anything up. They constantly repel people from themselves because they aren’t happy or at peace with themselves. Cynicism is a cancer that will eat away every last fiber of JOY in your life. Where an overly critical nature will repel people from you – a JOYFUL spirit will attract people to you. But you can’t have sustained joy and a cynical spirit at the same time. Something has to give. If you want lasting joy – take your critical nature to the cross and let it be crucified.

What is the ROOT of a critical spirit?

First, a critical person is walking in the flesh, not the Spirit. Rather than drawing upon the Lord for strength and perspective, the critical person relies upon his or her own resources. Cynicism quenches the Spirit of God in our lives, causing us to walk by sight, not faith. As Spirit-filled followers of Jesus Christ, we will always be a people of hope, while a fleshly person will be one of despair.

Second, when you meet people who are constantly critical, you can be pretty sure that they feel rotten about themselves. Overly critical people are dying on the inside. They don’t have peace. Most of the time they are at odds with God and mask the dilemma with religion. They see themselves as unattractive, failing, or in some manner unworthy. Pointing out others’ weaknesses works as an anodyne to keep people from seeing and feeling their own pain.

The Bottom Line

Overly critical people need grace – they need it from others, but more importantly, they need it from themselves. They need to come to grips with who they are in Christ and not be torn down every day with a highly analytical, perfectionist, or judgmental mentality. Living in grace will help you move away from a negative spirit that repels other people in your life, and more sadly, repels people from Christ as well.

If you want to make a difference in your world, choose JOY over CYNICISM and let God’s Spirit turn you into an agent of HOPE, not a judgmental FREAK that REPELS people.

Until next time… SERVE well, LOVE well, LIVE well, LEAD well.