Sticky Vision

Just a practical example of how vision sticks...

Yesterday we adopted a Golden Retriever from the shelter for my daughter Samantha's 10th birthday. She had no idea that she was getting a dog. I went and picked up the dog from the shelter and, to say the least she was a mess...and smelled horrible.

So I took her straight away to the groomer so that she would be perfect to present to Samantha later that day.
Here's where it goes from routine to the vision lesson for the day.
As I dropped off the dog at the groomer, I explained that I had just picked her up from the shelter and when I came back to pick her up I would have my daughter with me and surprise her with the dog. The groomers eyes lit up. She was locked in now. Not just a normal grooming...this one was special. She was so excited to be a part of Samantha's special day.

A person I had never met before suddenly was captivated by vision. Captivated by being asked to be a part of something special. She went above and beyond with the grooming, and even gave us a discount. Score!

When you can cast a compelling vision....make a task more than just the day to day, people respond in a big way.

You can view the video of the day...and the groomers feet...here. http://www.facebook.com/thethompson

Men and Women

Let me start this post by asking that you please leave a comment. This is a thought-work in progress, so I would love your input.

I have been leading a group of men at our church for almost a year. We have been through doctrine, the spiritual disciplines, and now we are learning about what it means to be a spiritual leader.

My wife has been leading a womens group for the last few months as well. I don't know exactly what they are studying but I do know I have seen growth in the women of that group, including my wife.

These two groups may be the most important thing we are doing at Seacoast right now as far as discipleship goes. Heres why I say that.

I believe something is very wrong in our culture when it comes to gender roles. I don't need to say it, you know it too. It is completely out of whack and perverted from what God designed it to be. As part of God's redemptive plan for the world, this is an area that we as followers of Christ should be working with God to redeem.

The more I talk to couples in trouble, the more I see that the gender role is a huge issue. Even more than the favorite relationship killers that we all know about, communication, fidelity, and finances. I am starting to believe that you can't address those issues and have any success until the couple sees and accepts responsibility for their God given role in the relationship.

Here is Eph. 5:33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

This is the key verse for the Love and Respect Conference that we are hosting this weekend at Seacoast. When we get the roles right, life is better...and I think, culture is changed one couple at a time, one generation at a time. I love how Emerson Eggerichs sums up the gender roles in his book "Love and Respect"...he says the man's role is "first among equals" and the womans role and desire is "to be of first importance". Again, as in all of scripture, the responsibility lies with the man for both of those. The man must consider his position one of equality, but he is first in responsibility. Just like Adam. When Eve and Adan sinned who did God go asking for? Adam. Adam was held responsible. And just like then, his sin and our sin as men today is a sin of omission. Something we are supposed to do, but don't.

As men, we are to know our position and our responsibility. We are to lead...first among equals. And we are to love our wives in a way that they know they are of first importance. Im beginning to believe that the way to change culture is to teach men how to be men. What do you think?

Heroes

Last night I was talking to Carrie about a book I was reading while in Barnes and Noble. It was a biography of one of my heroes, but when I told her this person was one of my heroes she gave me that "Carrie" look and said "Really?! I never knew that!"

So I thought I would share a few of my heroes with you today.
Walt Disney:
Walt Disney was a visionary. Started from a very humble family, began drawing pictures and developed a vision for entertaining people through his art. That vision expanded and grew into the Disney empire. I grew up going to Disney World pretty frequently. I can probably draw you a map from memory. I still get teary eyed when I see my kids light up when they go there. My kids love Disney movies, my kids love Disney Channel, and dream of going to Disney World again soon (so do I). All of that happens because one man has a vision and carries it out. And the remarkable thing is that for the most part, Walt's ideals are still carried through everything Disney does. It's a crazy huge legacy.



Joe Kittinger:
Joe Kittinger is just a MAN in the sense of the word that I don't think anyone else can compare to when it comes to bravery. He began as an Air Force test pilot. What he did next is incredible. This dude jumped out of a balloon gondola in 1960 from an altitude of 102, 800 feet. Folks, that is 19.4 miles up! That is in space. The dude rode in a balloon to space and freakin' jumped out! He was in freefall for 4 minutes and 38 seconds! He hit a speed of nearly 700 miles per hour on descent! That is enough to break the sound barrier.

One day I would love to meet this guy. (He is still living and in Florida) If you have a hookup, let me know!

William Tyndale:
Gutenberg created the moveable type printing press. Tyndale used that new technology to mass produce and print the Bible. Tyndale was a true rebel...in the Biblical sense, that is. He challenged the Church of England as well as the Catholic Church openly on their treatment of people, as well as their doctrinal shortcomings. He challenged the prevailing idea of the day that the way to God was through the Pope. He stated that the way to God was through His word. I agree. Tyndale's vision was that every person would have access to a Bible. This is one of the statement's that led to his end: "I defy the Pope, and all his laws; and if God spares my life, I will cause the boy that drives the plow in England to know more of the Scriptures than the Pope himself!"

In 1536, Tyndale was found and arrested on the charge of heresy and strangled, then burned at the stake.

Vision, Courage, Steadfastness....heroes.

Walking into spider webs

I walked into a spider web today.

I hate that for many reasons...not the least of which is that along with spider webs usually come spiders, which I hate. I know it will surprise many but I may hate spiders even more than cats. The difference is, spiders are fascinating and cats are not.

The other difference is that spiders tend to shy away from places where people frequently are. (I wish cats would do that!)

Which leads me to the point of the blog post.
Two things about spider webs...

1. They usually catch us by surprise
2. They are usually found in places we neglect.

Sound like life, huh.
Ever find yourself in a down place in life or get completely sideswiped by something and then look back on it later and said, "yep, I should have seen that coming"? Maybe it's an area you have been neglecting for a while...finances, marriage, spiritual, time with the kids, etc.

To me, it seems that it is much better to visit those hard to visit places at least every once and a while to chase the spiders away. No one likes to walk into a spider web.

What is an area of life that you have been neglecting?

P.S. For you cat lovers, I intentionally left out references to cats IN spider webs. You are welcome.

Worship thoughts

Last night our Man-gineering group talked about the spiritual discipline of worship.

Here are some random thoughts.

• We all worship someone or something. Because of sin, we worship wrongly.
• Most problems people have can be traced to worshiping wrongly
• Even church can become an idol that we worship and it is wrong. The 'feeling' of acceptance that we get at a healthy church can be drug-like.
• Driscoll- "The human heart is an idol factory"
• Corporate worship experience is an integral part of worship as a spiritual discipline.
• Submission is always the antidote to pride and thus, idolatry. In Matthew 17, the disciples fell on their faces at the sound of God's voice. Then Jesus extended his hand to them. They were in the position that He needed them to be in. How many times do we worship in a physical position of submission?
• We need to place God back at the position of ultimate.
• Creation will always fail you because of the curse of sin. Even created things such as church will fail you if you choose to place them over God in the position of ultimate.

What is your worship centered around?

Tattoo (pt.3)

So yesterday I posted the similarities between Pastors and tattoo artists. You can check that out below if you missed it. I left out the most important one so that I could expound on it today. Would you agree that it would be quite nerve wracking to tattoo someone? I mean, every stroke of the tattoo machine is there permanently. This is a HUGE responsibility that the customer hands to the tattoo artist. So here's a couple more sobering ways that Pastors and Tattoo artists are similar:

1. We share a high standard of judgement. When doing something of eternal significance we are held at a very high standard. We don't have the luxury of being nonchalant about what we do. Every stroke matters. In James we Pastors are told that we will be judged more strictly. We, like the tattoo artist can't take what we do lightly.
2. If we mess up, it's really bad. The artist adjacent to me when I was getting my tattoo joked with the guy whose back he was tattooing that he had tattooed the wrong name for his girlfriend who was watching. It was funny, but can you imagine!? As a Pastor, people take what we say very seriously. When we mess up, it's not us that suffers the most. It's the people that trust us. That should be a wake up call.

My passion is reaching people who have been hurt not only by sin and the fall, but by people and Pastors in churches that were unhealthy. Probably because I have been there.

I am not there yet, but I want every eternal stroke that I make on people to be as careful and focused as the lines the tattoo artist drew on me.
When I hand my tattoo machine over, I would love to hear "Well done."

Tattoo (pt.2)

Thinking about the experience of getting a tattoo, a few things come to mind.


The Tattoo Artist
They really are artists. This guy had the steady hand of a surgeon while holding a conversation. I watched him as he worked and it was artistic. It was very cool to sit and talk to him as a Pastor getting a tattoo...something that most people give a double take to. He was very open about his previous lifestyle as a guy who really enjoyed the drug culture! But then ended our few hours together by looking me in the eye and asking me to email him about our church. He was interested in coming on Easter.

We as Pastors really do have a lot in common with the tattoo artist.

1. We get a front row seat into peoples lives. He had one on mine for about 1-1/2 hours.
2. We get to be creative and use our God-given talents.
3. What we do is eternal. Not sure we get to keep our tattoos AFTER death, but you get my point. We both leave a legacy.
4. Sometimes what we do is painful but well worth it.