I was talking with Wendi the other day about how woefully behind the times I am with the current fashion trends.  The last time I bought a new shirt (excluding t-shirts, and the two solid polos I bought off the clearance table at Sam’s Club) was November of 2006.  That does not sound too bad until you realize that most of the shirts I buy are off the clearance rack which should tell you that they are very near out of date by the time I hang them in my closet.  Moreover, trends in fashion are changing all the time.  I’m out dated, I admit it.

Trends make it into the ministry-leadership world as well.  There are dozens and dozens of good, really good articles, sermons, books and blogs that I could learn from but I simply don’t have the time to read them all or listen to them all.  Besides, sometimes with so much input I get confused on what “voice” to listen to.

I’ve had to make some decisions in my life that might limit my exposure to what’s fashionable in ministry but honestly, it helps me stay focused on where God is leading me and what he expects from me.  I’ve gone from reading up to 10 blogs a day down to 3: Craig Groeschel (church leadership), Ed Stetzer (big picture view on Christianity and evangelicalism) and Seth Godin (expositor of business, culture and leadership).

Once a week or so, I’ll check in on my local pastor friends and sure I miss some of my old favorites, but I think I can already notice a difference.

Why is that of all our senses the eyes are usually the ones to wear out first? I am sure there are physiological reasons for this, but once I hit 40 I noticed that I needed more light in order to read. I noticed that after 40 I have to hold the paper or label or book a little farther away (and each month it seems to increase by a few more centimeters). I guess I’m fortunate that I don’t (yet) wear glasses or contacts or have had lasik surgery, but I am guessing my number will soon be up and I will be shopping for the glasses that fold up into a small case at Wal-Mart and I will need several pairs around the house because I will keep losing them. Why does it seem that everyone, at some point in their life, loses the ability to see clearly?

I’m glad I’ve made it this long, but if we were going to take a vote if I will soon need glasses, no doubt the “eyes” have it…

I am getting ready to do a message this Sunday that has caused me to think about the times when God remains silent, or at least appears to be awfully still.  There was a period of 400 years where God did not use people to speak for him or write anything down on his behalf.  Four hundred years is a long time!

Over the course of that time, I wonder if people lost faith in who he was or claimed to be?  I wonder if people stopped worshiping?  I would imagine that many did, but in my research for Sunday, many did not.  In fact, the passion of Mattathias (a Jew who boldly stood up to Antiochus IV who deviled the temple) and later his son Judas Macabbeus were two men that would not let God’s “chosen” people die.  The history is amazing.  It’s the Hatfield’s and McCoys; the Crips and the Bloods, the Sox and the Cubs…it’s bad news, yet God always prevails.

Sometimes when God is silent he is preparing something better for us than we can even imagine.  When God did speak, it was to introduce his Son, Jesus Christ…and that’s worth waiting for.

There are several church leaders on the national level that I follow and learn from, but this morning I had the privilege of hanging out with a couple of local church pastors and had a blast. While they may never be asked to write a book or speak at a conference, these guys are the real deal; living and existing in the trenches of ministry everyday. They have real families, and real issues, and real hearts for Jesus. Just before I left they told me I was the “Connection Coordinator” (or something like that) to make sure we get to hang out more often. That’s an assignment I will gladly handle.

As sort of tribute to these guys, I have listed their blogs on my side bar. I hope you’ll check out Tim, Sam and Heath.

*meant as a term of endearment

Maybe you recognize these two types of people:

1) Complainers. The Israelites said to them, ” If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted” (Exodus 16:3). The author of Exodus expresses that “the Israelites” were the ones complaining, but it is doubtful that all 600,000 + people had the ear of Moses and Aaron. It was a few that complained the loudest and incidentally, they had the least logical complaint. They did not sit around eating meat and bread in Egypt…they were slaves and stood all day doing back-breaking labor. Duh.

2. Tattletales: “On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses” (Exodus 16:22). The original instructions were to gather enough for each day only (one omer), but on the day before the Sabbath, they were to gather enough for two days (and do no work on the Sabbath). But…the “brown-nosers” came to Moses…”Moses, there are people getting more than they should….” They tried to make a good (righteous) impression on Moses, but in the end it was what God had commanded them to do. Oops.

Do you recognize either of those people? Maybe I should ask, “Are you one of those people?”

Ashamedly, I have used both of those tactics to get the attention of my leaders and to make myself seem better than I am. I’ve gotten embarrassed when I tried to call someone on the carpet for doing something I later learned they should have been doing all along. I’ve been cynical and have complained way too much.

I’m glad God’s not through with me yet.