1. Daily connection with God through prayer, scripture reading and silence. So simple, but so hard!
2. Spend time with the broken: It’s hard to stay-on-mission when you only hang out with others who are on-mission. We have to spend time with those who are far from God. When we see their brokenness, pain and hurt, we will be reminded of the calling on our lives to “do good” and this will give us the fuel to focus and prioritize!
3. Take ownership: You have to take ownership for the mission. If you’re apart of a non-profit or church community, everyone who works for the organization (staff, volunteers, etc ) must take ownership of the mission. We all have to lead well, follow well, and be effective!
4. Give: If one is not willing to give to the mission, then they are not really committed to the mission. When I say give, I really see this as truly being sacrificial!
5. Rest: We all gotta get away and rest. We cannot drive ourselves into the ground over-and-over and expect that we will stay on-mission long-term. Rest and play are apart of God’s larger story. We can’t just be focused on doing and creating.
6. Be Led, Lead and Follow: Every leader needs to be led, (who is mentoring you?) Every leader needs to lead well. (who are you leading?) And every follower must follow well. It’s important that we understand our role and embrace it!
7. Passion: I’m learning more and more that if you have to stay on people to get things done, those people may not be all that valuable to the mission. People who don’t get things done, actually drain the organization of valuable time and energy. People who are passionate are going to work and hard and do the right thing. Every person in the organization must take ownership of the vision and mission and do what it takes to see the vision come alive!
8. Do less to achieve more: Don’t say yes to everything, but when you say yes to something, do it! Don’t make excuses! Its much easier to do things right and stay on-mission when you have a solid rhythm. The key here is learning to say no to things don’t propel the mission forward. Side-ways energy is toxic to living on-mission.

In the last two weeks I think I’ve broken every rule above! So I’m truly being therapeutic this morning to my own soul and reminding myself more than anything!

I’m currently typing this message on the hotel balcony as I hear the waves roar in the background. Just a simple reminder of God’s power and the beauty of creation. I sometimes wonder how amazing heaven will be in moments like this.

There is something special when you gaze into an ocean, there is something mesmerizing when you drive through mountains, there is something special when the whole goal of the day is to connect with family and friends and add value to each others lives.

It all reminds me of how God originally wanted our lives to be, a deep connection with God and humanity, and humanity with each other. We were created to connect, to love, to share, to sacrifice for each other. We were created for community. Yet everything in our modern world tries to disrupt this reality.

This is why the gospel will only shine forth when we realize that we need to engage in community. The gospel is fleshed-out when we do life together and when we allow God to be the center, and I can only imagine what could happen when a “gospel-centered community” fully embraces what mission looks like. Can you imagine the impact that we could make?

I was having a phone conversation last week with a friend about HELP. He wanted to know my vision for the organization. I told him more then anything I want HELP to bring glory to Jesus.  I know a lot of of non-profits shy away from theology and mission. They become incognito Christians. I get the “why” behind this philosophy as I’ve wrestled through the same set-of-questions. 

Here is my conviction. HELP is not just about social justice. It’s about the church doing what we are called to do. Which is to love people with a deep sense of conviction and sacrifice. I want to be the hands and feet of Jesus. I want Jesus to become famous through this organization. My hope is that people won’t hear the love of Jesus, but they will see the love of Jesus through the action of His followers. 

The church gets so much bad press and for good reason. It drives me crazy because the media tends to focus on all the negatives that the church-world creates. 

So my prayer for HELP is that we might help rewrite the script of what people think of Jesus and His church. That being said I really think many people who don’t consider themselves Christians will still take part in the organization. When we serve local/global communities their will be “no-stings-attached” to our service.

So in short-when we leave a project or community. I want those people to know that Jesus showed up through a bunch of imperfect people. I want them to know that we loved, served, sacrificed and worked hard.  Why? Because we care.

Yes we can bring food and shelter or maybe even clean water. But at the end of the day if we don’t bring Jesus-then we’re just another aid organization. And my conviction is simple-the cross is what will change everything. So let’s pick-up our cross and walk in the darkest places of the world and pitch-a-tent and love people in the name of Jesus.

As a leader Its hard to balance all these frustrations and conversations. And this is why vision is so important. Does you’re church know what you are trying to accomplish for the Kingdom? There are many “good” things to do. But my church can’t be “all things to all people.” We have to seek the heart of God and drive home the vision that God gives us as a local church.

Once you have a vision then that vision can become a conviction. Then a leader can lead no matter what situation comes up. This is not only a Lead Pastor or staff issue. We have to teach the leaders in our church to do the same. How many small groups got off track because some whack-job had an agenda and all-of-sudden the small group leader loses control. It happens all the time and usually that small group never fulfills it’s purposes.

How do we take control without feeling the need to control? I think the right answer is vision. Go here for a good example. Can you communicate the the vision in one page or on a napkin with deep passion and conviction?

At Vista our mission is to reach those who are far from God and help them discover the real Jesus. We do this by Worshiping Christ (Self-Feeding), Live in Community (doing intentional life with other believers) and Being on Mission. (using ones gifts and passions to serve Christ in natural domains such as neighborhood and community and intentionally serving those around the globe who are in extreme poverty). That is the vision we feel like God has given us-therefore we have to steward that vision.

Now here is the kicker. If someone comes to our church and does not like this vision. Say they want evangelistic outreaches; then we know they may not be a good fit for our community. (probably perfect for another church that has a like-minded vision) But if one loves our vision and is still frustrated then there is a good chance we as leaders are not doing a good job of communicating or helping people find their gifts, etc.

So I say again…lead with vision. Be willing to die for that vision. Of course it may take a church plant 2-3 years to find what they are willing to die for. But when you do…Go for it.

• If you have a dream…You will have to fight to keep that dream alive.
• Life is short. I refuse to waste time on issues that don’t matter.
• Because life is short I refuse to work-it-away. I’m taking a lot more time to enjoy life and spend time with friends and family, travel the world, embrace the present and be in good mood. I just refuse to be cynical all the time.
• Sideways energy is my enemy…You have to fight this enemy on a daily basis.
• I HATE the Devil. Evil sucks…I will do everything in my power and use all my resources to fight darkness. Everyday I’m going to seek the Kingdom and be committed to living this out in tangible ways. I desperately want to be apart of a church that thinks, looks and acts like the 1st century church.
• I refuse to let the past dictate the future and I also refuse to day-dream about what could be. I want to work hard on making my dreams become real…I want to see them alive and active and doing good.
• I think God wants us to dream bigger then we can imagine. Not from a numerical perspective-but from a Kingdom perspective. You’re life can make a huge impact.
• We had close to 70 people at our daughters b-day party…Many different nationalities and religions were present. Yet time-and-time again I kept hearing the following: “Chris, your community seems so loving, why is that?” I had parents ask if they could come to our church…One said she had not been in church for over a decade. My girls b-day party was a snap-shot of the Kingdom. We don’t need programs…We just need to live in the thin-space…A the place where God uses us to naturally bring forth the Kingdom in our everyday lives.

I guess I could go on-and-on…But I won’t. Aren’t you happy?!?!?!

God, Family, Work (Vista & HELP) Friends, Finances & Health. 

Basically things just aren’t working with the way my family is structured. So I’m hoping to create a better flow so we can rest more, spend time together and have the resources to pour-into the passions that God has given us. Of course the only way for us to do this is for Necole to pioneer her own business. Not something we want to do in a weak economy with a new mortgage. But we need to maximize our income so we can reduce our time working and then we will be able to give more away and spend more quality time as a family that is on mission. That my friend equals great life. 

So my hopes is to cut back Necole’s hours at work, increase her pay in the process so we can be free to travel and do things that are vital yet hard with a two-income family. 

I think if we are going to be a people who bless others we have to think with this attitude. We need time, money and mission. It’s possible…You just gotta find it. So today I’m searching.