Category Archives: Connection

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Spiritual Exiles

Only 10% of 20-Somethings Have Resilient Faith

Over the last 10 years of research tracking the faith expression of 20-sometings, it has been revealed there are 4 categories that aid in comprehension of the lifestyle and faith expressions of this young generation. The commonality of these 4 groups is they all have similar church upbringing experiences yet, have perceptions of life, faith, and relationships. Notice this description below.

Prodigals, or ex-Christians, do not identify themselves as Christian despite having attended a Protestant or Catholic church as a child or teen, or having considered themselves to be Christian at some time.

Nomads, or lapsed Christians, identify themselves as Christian but have not attended church during the past month. The vast majority of nomads haven’t been involved with a faith community for six months or more.

Habitual churchgoers describe themselves as Christian and have attended church at least once in the past month, yet do not have foundational core beliefs or behaviors associated with being an intentional, engaged disciple.

Resilient disciples are Christians who (1) attend church at least monthly and engage with their church more than just attending worship services; (2) trust firmly in the authority of the Bible; (3) are committed to Jesus personally and affirm he was crucified and raised from the dead to conquer sin and death; and (4) express desire to transform the broader society as an outcome of their faith.

I will explore these categories in more depth in the next blog article.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

*Only 10% of Twenty Christian Somethings Have Resilient Faith. ACCESSED 6 September 2020. https://www.barna.com/research/of-the-four-exile-groups-only-10-are-resilient-disciples/

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Are We Ready To Tackle Racism?

Destroying Businesses, Taking of Life, Destroying Dignities Are Not Solutions

The paradigms of everything we have held as near and dear to our hearts are all upside down. We all are attempting to find our stance as humans in a crazy world. What started out as a biological pandemic has now turned into destruction of cities, lives taken, radical disruption of community norms, and the hijacking of national narratives. We are not living in an environment that brings positive solutions to the fore-front. With a fevered, frothing energy running across our nation, are we in any position to appropriately discuss whose lives really matter?

For myself personally, I refuse to allow the national craziness to prohibit my desire to learn and grow my awareness. First and foremost, I am continually looking through the lens of scripture. This gives me an eternal perspective. I attempt to read and learn from others so that my thoughts can be enlarged, and my character continually shaped into the image of Christ. Because so much has been made about the book White Fragility, I decided to read it with a hope that I could expand my comprehension about racism. The author, Robin Diangelo is a white female PhD in Cultural Diversity.

Dr. Diangelo gives an interesting opening description of herself that causes me to ask, Could this become a beginning point for a positive dialogue on racism? She writes; “I am a white American raised in the United States. I have a white frame of reference and a white worldview, and I move through the world with a white experience. My experience is not a universal human experience. It is a particularly white experience in a society in which race matters profoundly; a society that is deeply separate and unequal by race…..” I have added the underlining for emphasis. If you insert your race in place of “white” references we all can at least begin with a confession that we all are uniquely and wonderfully created. This is a small but significant acknowledgement. The denial of a race can lead to disastrous conclusions. Hitler’s Arianism and the Jewish race being seen as sub-par led to an attempt at extermination.

Billy Graham personifies what I am suggesting in an article; Footprints of Consciousness. The article states; “From the time he became a Christian, Billy Graham said, “I could not understand segregation in the church.” By 1952, he felt compelled to take what was considered at the time a dramatic stand. He was scheduled to hold a Crusade in Jackson, Mississippi, and the seating had been arranged to accommodate a segregated audience. Ropes were erected to keep blacks and whites apart. When Graham arrived at the meeting, he personally went over and pulled the ropes down and refused to let them be put back up.”

While cities are burning, today is a great day for a Biblical worldview of humanity to emerge!

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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What is Soul Force?

Soul Force= (Energy x Focus x W.I.N) Consistency

What is “Soul Force” you ask? It is the core energy that manifests itself daily in your life work and passions. This begs the question; “What are you passionate about?” What motivates you to get up and start your day? What is it that you do that you cannot believe they pay you to do this? That is “Soul Force” energy.

If Soul Force could be placed into a math equation it would be SOUL FORCE = (Energy x Focus x W.I.N.) Consistency (What’s Important Now = W.I.N.). Consider the fact passionate energetic work requires ENERGY first. Secondly, you must bring a FOCUS to your work. Thirdly, you must prioritize what is important versus what is urgent. Once these things are in alignment you can use the “Exponential Qualifier” that will either reveal your true Soul Force or the lack of Soul Force.

If you could somehow get you Energy level to 100 x Focus at 100 x W.I.N. to 100 = that would be 1,000,000. Not bad! However, the Exponential Qualifier must be added. What if that was 100. You need a science calculator, but the answer is infinity. YES, the answer is that you would have infinite Soul Force. That level of passionate effort looks amazing, yet it is not practical for humans to show up daily with that level of passion yet alone attempt sustainability.

Let’s make this equation more practical. Consider that your Energy, Focus, and W.I.N. is only at 10 (10 x10 x10) = 1000. Add to this equation that your consistency is at 100 – always showing up day after day without fail, always trying, what would the answer be in our equation?

1(300 “0’s”) = (10 x 10 x 10) 100. That is crazy – 300 zeros? YES! The power of simple daily habits done consistency every day yields unbelievable results over the course of your lifetime. What is the point of these thoughts? Start with small daily habits and do them every day. My daily “5” habits are: Bible, Prayer, Reading, Writing, Exercise. Leave a comment below and share your daily habits.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

[1] Brian Johnson. The Soul Force of Consistency. Optimize.me Accessed 4 September 2020.

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What is COVID Teaching The Church?

Facility-Based Church is Being Decentralized

We are 20 weeks into our national pandemic. We have witnessed our nation shut-down almost everything, schools pivoted to online education over-night, and we have learned new terms and phrases – “Essential Workers Vs. Non-essential Workers”; “Social Distancing?” We are watching our nation struggle to re-emerge into a fully functioning nation at all levels. 

Not everything is opening and returning to pre-COVID experiences. For example, Barna Research is reporting that only 50% of churches in America have opened with pre-cautions being put into place.  Some of these churches have opened, shut-down, and re-opened due to a COVID outbreak. Other churches are planning their re-open between November 2020 – June 2021. Major Corporations in America are opting to re-open their offices in 2021. Some companies are giving their employees the option to furlough their return to office-based work until August 2021. We can definitely state that our national “re-open” process is revealing a different view of our nation than what we remembered.

Reading the Bible Book of Acts in the New Testament, I was struck by a passage that I have often read over the years. Acts 2:47 states; “…. And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.”(Emphasis added). I can’t imagine any Pastor not being excited about this prospect of a growing and thriving church. However, there is a concern that I have noticed.

This concern I have noticed has been revealed by the condition of our national pandemic. There is a large chorus of voices that desire to get back to the way we were doing church. My concern is this; “What do we do with a desire for Christ’s blessings daily upon a church that only meets once weekly?” Acts 2:46-47a states; “Every day they continued to meet in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts (47) praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people…” (Emphasis added).

How do we apply these two verses of the Bible post-COVID? I believe there are 2 important truths to reflect on and consider how these 2 truths will impact the future image of a de-centralized church;

  1. We cannot go to church if in fact we are the church.
  2. Is Christ calling us to build a facility-based church or are we impact a city (the favor of all the people v.47a).

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Nehemiah & COVID-19

The Prayers of Nehemiah

Nehemiah’s 8th Prayer – Nehemiah 13: 14,22,29,30

Insights

  1. This book concludes in a difficult manner. Rather than “happy ever after” the last chapter reflects the condition of the people 13 years after the wall had been concluded. What was their condition? They had drifted away from the covenant they made in chapter 9 of Nehemiah.
  2. Nehemiah returns as an older man to set things right – his actions were drastic. This example shows us that in the life of faith there are things worth fighting for in the community of faith.
  3. In vvs. 14,22,29,30 we find the translation of the Hebrew word “Remember.” Asking God to remember is not as though God had forgotten. This is more of an acknowledgement of desire to do what is right and to honor God in their actions. Nehemiah personified then Hebrew word, hesed – faithfulness to God’s call and love for God.
  4. Nehemiah noticed their desecration of the Sabbath by means of all of the merchandizing that was taking place. “Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” V.18.

Observations

  1. Things of high value must be ingrained by disciplined habits over time. Hitting the pause button can be dangerous in the undermining of important values.
  2. Discipleship is a journey not a destination. We are always becoming a disciple versus I have become a disciple.
  3. Desiring to please God through our living requires a bold stance that may appear offensive to others. Sabbath rest means that you stop work and rest. Draw yourself into his presence through prayer and worship. Sabbath is meant to be a time for refreshing.
  4. Hesed for the most part is always used as a description of God’s love for us. We are not able to fully grasp the meaning of that love by means of the English language. However, in this chapter hesed is used to describe Nehemiah’s work. Remember his first prayer in chapter 1:4-11 – he was deeply moved at the report of Jerusalem’s condition. He accepted the call to be used of God to restore the integrity of the city. He illustrates a type of unconditional and unfailing love for God’s city and people.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Nehemiah & COVID-19

The Prayers of Nehemiah

Nehemiah’s 7th Prayer – Nehemiah 9:5-38

Insights

  1. This prayer is the longest recorded prayer in scripture. It is a corporate prayer of repentance. Upon completion of the wall the people gather together for worship and hear the reading of the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible). 
  2. The Word of God was taught by Ezra and other leaders for an entire day. Afterwards they came back for more. Conviction resulted in the hearts of the hearers and they realized that God had been faithful to them, but they had not been faithful to God. 
  3. There are 4 key observations about this prayer.
    1. Notice the ways they address God and give Him praise.
    1. They acknowledge God’s faithfulness even when they were unfaithful.
    1. Notice the ways they acknowledge their sin and evil in the sight of God.
    1. Notice the ways people demonstrate repentance with commitment to obedience.
  4. This long prayer is an expression of their desire to return and repent to their God.

Observations

  1. A crisis forces realignment and repentance. Erosion is very slow and almost unnoticed until a crisis hits and reveals the drift.
  2. The grammatical-historical interpretation of scripture is still the preferred method of interpretation. This allows biblical applications to be applied to people’s everyday problems, giving hope for a better day. Notice how this truth brought a nation to repentance before God.
  3. Once you discover that you have lost your value system and moral compass, that is the time to call it for what it is – SIN. Don’t stop at this point, recommit to the tried and true values that you previously built your life upon.

Return to thankfulness! Self-reliance is blinding and causes you to stay in an echo chamber. We all need to hear the hard truth to bring us back to a proper focus of what we are doing and for whom we are worshipping. 

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Nehemiah & COVID-19

The Prayers of Nehemiah

Nehemiah’s 6th Prayer – Nehemiah 6:14

Insights

  1. In seasons of national crisis or even deep personal crisis learn to observe the progression of conflict. I discussed this list in the previous prayer of Nehemiah 6:9. It is worth repeating. Notice this progression…..
    1. Ridicule 4:1-6
    1. Conspiracy 4:7-9
    1. Discouragement 4:10
    1. Intimidation 4:11-13
    1. Internal Strife 5:1-19
    1. Trickery 5:1-4
    1. Slander 6:5-9
    1. Treachery 6:10-14
  2. Seasons of intense crisis can become personal and nasty – it is not uncommon to face a strategy that attempts to discredit your ministry and life work.
  3. This level of ugliness requires laser focus upon the mandate of God – stay true to the call of God and the purposes of God no matter what others say.
  4. Stop attempting to manufacture the outcomes and trust God for all outcomes.
  5. The worst attacks will come from other religious leaders – Prophetess Noadiah and the other Prophets.

Observations

  1. Vengeance always to God! That means you will take some cheap shots and sucker punches. Your role is to remain sure to God’s call. Your work is not just this moment. It is collected moments of life by other people who sacrificed to make your moment possible.
  2. The COVID journey is not fun, it is ugly and nasty in the national narrative. Civil liberties are being trampled and people’s dreams are being crushed and destroyed. Victory is not declared by advancing destruction.
  3. What has God called you to do with your life? Are you doing that? How are you growing yourself to higher levels within the confines of that calling?
  4. When is the last time the manifest presence of God broke into your plans, middle of the night, your dreams, your agenda?
  5. Your most intense battle will come from your peers and comrades in the faith. Count on it!

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Nehemiah & COVID-19

The Prayers of Nehemiah

Nehemiah’s 5th Prayer – Nehemiah 6:9

Insights

  1. In seasons of national crisis or even deep personal crisis learn to observe the progression of conflict. Notice this progression…..
    1. Ridicule 4:1-6
    1. Conspiracy 4:7-9
    1. Discouragement 4:10
    1. Intimidation 4:11-13
    1. Internal Strife 5:1-19
    1. Trickery 5:1-4
    1. Slander 6:5-9
    1. Treachery 6:10-14
  2. Crisis reveals a leader it does not make the leader. You must stay focused on the voice of God and the purposes of God. Build the city – Build the People!
  3. As you near the conclusion of one goal the battles intensify. Nehemiah was getting close to the completion of the walls. The enemy’s darkest strategies surface when their grip on power is being ripped away from them. Desperation sets in.
  4. Near the conclusion of the wall psychological intimidation was in full force. FEAR in the face of crisis is the greatest weapon used to derail God’s agenda.

Observations

  1. In the face of national or personal crisis the enemy’s tactics is always multi-faceted. The battles are never short in terms of time. Prepare yourself for a longer battle and journey through the darkness.
  2. What has COVID revealed to you about your own leadership strengths and weaknesses? What is God saying to you about your own personal development and growth journey?
  3. Have you noticed the layered disruptions in your life? Notice how disruptions come in a variety of ways and the frequency of their occurrences should be noted. You defeat this layered attack through PRAYER and staying FOCUSED upon God’s agenda.
  4. Take inventory of your fear level – where are you on a scale of 1-10. Take corrective measures through triplet prayer partnerships – “A three-fold cord is not easily broken…”

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Nehemiah & COVID-19

The Prayers of Nehemiah

Nehemiah’s 4th Prayer – Nehemiah 5:19

Insights

  1. In vv.14-19 we learn that Nehemiah had been appointed as Governor and that he would be in Jerusalem 12 years (Neh.2). 
  2. Nehemiah’s responsibility would encompass entertaining Dignitaries from other parts of the Persian Empire. That was expensive. This was to be provided for from the taxes of the people.
  3. Nehemiah chose to demonstrate leadership by going first and further than was expected by others. He was known for his generosity.
  4. It is interesting to notice the trajectory of Nehemiah’s journey up to this point. We have moved from the initial report of Jerusalem’s destruction to days of prayer and fasting to permission granted, to building the walls and battling enemies to generosity as a Governor. The journey of life is never single-faceted, rather it is goal oriented with multiple goals in between.
  5. Nehemiah’s prayer in v.19 is not self-centered as some would suggest. It is more about a remembrance of the covenant relationship. It is about a plea for God to be at work as Nehemiah strives to honor God with his life and actions

Observations

  1. When a major crisis hits our life either through personal attacks or national attacks. The impact of such events is never short-term. There is a lasting impact upon leaders. Your mission will be altered, are you willing to adapt? Are you living with the “long-view” in mind?
  2. Do not underestimate your current role (Nehemiah was a cupbearer). Promotions sometimes come at odd times and unique ways. Never lose sight of key leadership maxims; Leaders are servants; Leaders go first and go further than others.
  3. Even in the face of national crisis you can be known as a generous person. A crisis is no excuse for selfishness. Demonstrate servant leadership at every opportunity.
  4. Our current national crisis is a significant disruption that has altered our work life, home life, our children’s education life, and church life habits. A crisis causes you to change your life trajectory. Life is never single-focused. It is however fluid and always in motion.
  5. National disruption requires bold prayers. Nehemiah demonstrates this by appealing to his covenant relationship with God. Our prayers should be an appeal for God’s activity while we work honorably to advance His name.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com

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Nehemiah & COVID-19

The Prayers of Nehemiah

Nehemiah’s 3rd Prayer – Nehemiah 4:4-5

Insights

  1. This 3rd prayer marks a transition from “ME” to “WE.” This rebuilding campaign was now a national program and no longer just about Nehemiah.
  2. Sanballat and Tobiah were the principle agitators during the construction project. Not everyone can get on board for restoration.
  3. As long as known agitators of the gospel plan succeeds, the work of the gospel will be hindered.
  4. Old Testament prayers can be confrontational. Notice the words of this prayer; “…we are despised, turn back their taunt upon their head…give them up to be plundered…” There is a time and place for confrontational warfare prayer
  5. This 3rd prayer is a plea for God to be at work while we work honorably to advance your name and Kingdom.

Insights

  1. The shift from “ME” to “WE” (vv.1,4,6) should not be over-looked. The old adage is true; “He who thinks he is leading, and no one follows, is only taking a long slow walk by yourself.” God’s work must be inclusive.
  2. There will be enemies of true biblical Kingdom initiatives. Bold Prayers required! Call them out! Let them know you see their destructive plan. Pray Gods judgement in holding them accountable.
  3. If bold prayers are not offered and Kingdom enemies prosper – God’s work will be hindered. There are forces in our nation that does not care who is hurt and damaged in the process of achieving selfish goals.
  4. No matter where your attack comes from or who the enemy is – WORK HONORABLY! GLORIFY GOD!
  5. The result: the walls were connected and raised half-way to completion.

Shepherds Advantage provides Servant Leadership that helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Shepherds Advantage closes that gap by providing Leadership Development, Key Note Speaking, and Executive Coaching. 

Shepherdsadvantage@gmail.com