J.R. Briggs
Attempting to behold the miracle long enough without falling asleep
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Decaffeinated Christianity
”Say to God, ‘Father, I’m sick of being a common Christian. I’m sick of being only halfway. I want to know You.’” - A.W. Tozer
I’ve been thinking a lot about Christianity and coffee lately and I am not sure why they go together. They probably don’t.
I’ve had this phrase stuck in my head the past few weeks and I can’t get it out: decaffeinated Christianity.
Thought of the day: Jesus came to save us from the disappointment of our decaf Christianity.
He came to offer us the caffeinated kingdom – extra shots and all – that keeps us awake late at night and has us longing to come back for more.
Thoughts & Insights on ‘How the Mighty Fall’
Recently I read Jim Collin’s book How the Mighty Fall. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as I have all of Collins’ books, which are well-researched, well-written, thought-provoking and insightful. Though the information doesn’t always apply to my context, I still find the leadership lessons and insights fascinating.The book’s premise: Why do great companies collapse? What happened that led to their demise? Collins’ team thoroughly researched some of the largest companies in America who were long-standing icons but who eventually bit the dust. (It’s a gripping premise, isn’t it?)
I’ve included some (random) thoughts and quotes from the notes I wrote down after completing the book. If you are a leader, you will find some good nuggets in here:
-Effective teaching: don’t try to come up with the right answers; focus in coming up with good questions
-the critical question is not ‘What do successes share in common? What do failures share in common?’ but ‘What do we learn by studying the contrast between successes and failures?’
-we do ourselves a disservice by studying only success. We learn more by examining why a company fell into mediocrity and comparing it to a successful one than by studying the success of just one company.
-it is better to create your own future repeatedly, than to wait for external forces dictate your choices.
-past accomplishments guarantee nothing about future success
-leaders must possess an obsessive need for self initiated progress and improvement.
-embrace the leadership tension between continuity and change
-continually evolve: modify your approach with creative improvements and intelligent adaptation.
-When you succeed at something, evaluate it. Ask “why was ____ successful in the first place?”
-the best leaders remain students of their work, relentlessly asking three questions: why why, why?
-have self-managed and self-motivated people. It is the number one ingredient of a culture of discipline.
-the best leaders see themselves as not very important
-great leaders avoid big continuous leaps, favoring instead a series of well planned, empirically tested steps in which little things turned into big things that replaced old big things, in a continuous cycle of renewal.
-the waterline principle: blow a hole above the waterline and you can patch the hole, learn from the experience and move on. Blow a hole below he waterline and you are sunk. Great organizations do make big bets, but they avoid big bets that could blow holes below the waterline.
Waterline evaluation questions:
- What’s the upside, if evens turned out well!
- What’s the downside, if events go very badly?
- Can you live with the downside? Truly?
“I don’t have a sense of crisis; I have a sense of urgency that never changes whether we are doing well or doing poorly.” -Louis Gerstner, former CEO of IBM
-the signature of mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change, but chronic inconsistency.
-do not fire your gun on automatic. Fire one bullet at a time.
-the point of the struggle is not to survive but to build an enterprise that makes such a distinctive impact on the world that it would leave a gaping hole if it ceased to exist.
-Q: what would be lost – and how would the world be worse off – if we ceased to exist?
-“The right leaders feel a sense of urgency in good times and bad, whether facing threat or opportunity, no matter what. They’re obsessed, afflicted with a creative compulsion and inner drive for progress.”
The five stages of Decline:
1. Hubris born of success
-entitlement, arrogance
-neglect of primary flywheel
-what replaces why
-decline in learning orientation
2. Undisciplined pursuit of more
-easy cash erodes discipline
-unsustainable growth
-confusing big with great
-declining proportion of the right people in the right seats
3. Denial of risk and peril
-amplify the positive, discount the negative
-big bets below waterline
-erosion of healthy team dynamics
-external used blaming
-obsessive reorganization
4. Grasping for salvation: how does leadership respond?
-a series of silver bullets
-grasping for a leader as savior
-panic and haste
-hype precedes results
5. Capitulation to irrelevance or death
the best church logo I’ve ever seen
My dad serves on staff Central Christian Church of the East Valley, a large church in the Great Phoenix Area. Over Christmas we visited Central for one of their Christmas Eve services. Though not a designer in any way, shape or form, I have come to appreciate good design and typography (for those typographic nerds like me, I recommend the documentaries Helvetica and Art & Copy). I am always looking at design and logos and architecture, noticing nuanced features enough to make my wife roll her eyes.
One of the things that I found so striking about the church logo is its symbolism. I’ve seen many church logos (some really good, most mediocre, some appalling) but Central’s is the best I’ve ever seen.
It’s clean, simple and stark.
It doesn’t try to hard to be impressive or over-the-top.
It’s well-designed and attractive.
Like most churches, the logo has a cross in it (and fortunately, it isn’t the “t” in the word Central).
But I’ve never seen this before: Central’s logo has a cross tipped over on it’s side.
My dad said the senior pastor intentionally wanted it on its side – as a jolting challenge that every one of us is called to pick up our cross and follow Christ daily (Matt 16:24). Great design and a powerful challenge.
Here’s the church’s website where you can see the logo in the upper left corner.
Here’s a picture of the front entrance to the church:
I can think of no other more important challenge to communicate in a church logo than this.
What is your church’s logo?
What does it symbolize?
What does it communicate (whether you like to admit it or not)?
What does it challenge people to do/become?
[ 13 ] ways to raise grateful kids
For the past few weeks I’ve been taking an informal survey among parents who have well-adjusted kids (of all ages) who possess an attitude of gratitude. I’ve asked the question, “What are purposeful, practical ways you’ve tried to train your kids to be grateful?”
Here are several common themes – and a few additions of my own.
- Travel: expose your kids to different cultures. This will provide perspective that “our way” isn’t the only way to live. Kids will also inherently understand that life isn’t as bad as they might have originally thought.
- Have your kids spend time hanging around with grateful and wise adults. Invite wise and trusted grownups over for dinner or a BBQ on Saturday afternoon. Role models are significant; surrounding your kids with grateful role models makes sense.
- Teach gratitude rigorously. Point thankful spirits out in other people. Kneel down and look your kids in the eyes and tell them they did a good job thanking someone else. When they fail to say ‘please’ or ‘thank you,’ lovingly correct and guide them to respond with appropriate words right then and there. Don’t miss the teachable moment.
- Confront entitlement immediately. Snuff out any spirit of whining or an attitude of “I deserve this” in your kids. Be kind, but firm. Simply do not tolerate it.
- Make events and outings special, but not assumed. When kids assume special events or trips will always be there, entitlement begins to creep in.
- Model it. It may seem obvious, but it can be easy for mom and dad to forget that modeling is the most significant way to guide our children. Eliminate sarcasm or complaining in your conversation. Remember: more is caught than taught.
- Read Scripture together. The Bible has numerous verses about gratitude. Consider reading from the Psalms regularly or before dinner.
- Minimize (or eliminate) time with television, advertisements and commercials. The goal of marketing and advertising is to make you discontent with what you currently have. Studies reveal that, regardless of income level, there is a direct correlation between the amount of hours people watch television with the amount of money they spend each month.
- Give and serve as a family. Seek out ways to serve as a family (and not just around the holidays). Whether its for a few hours at the local soup kitchen or homeless shelter on a Saturday morning or a week-long mission trip, it builds memories, allows for healthy modeling and provides perspective that breeds thankfulness.
- Find the right balance between work and play. Communicate to your entire family that there will be times where we will play hard and there will be times where we will work hard. Expect both. Create age-appropriate chores – and schedule fun times to make memories together.
- Refrain from buying everything your kids want. Pushing the cart through the toy section at Target can be dangerous, but don’t give in. At appropriate times, bless your children, but don’t give in to every request for something. The worst thing we can do as parents is to give our kids everything they think they want – when they want it.
- Refuse the comparison trap. Refuse to allow your kids to compare themselves with other kids, especially regarding possessions and ‘their stuff.’ The root of discontentment is comparison.
- Watch the language. Have a keen ear for phrases like “I need that doll,” “I want that toy,” “She has ____ and I don’t…” or any other form of whining. If you hear it in the grocery aisle or from the backseat of the van, address it immediately. This includes non-verbals like pouting or smirking.
What about you? What else would you add to the list?
[ 11 ] Links that will change your life
Is Facebook making your miserable?
The December Bowl Games are now behind us. Now we enter into the real bowls that actually matter. Here are 20 signs your team is playing in a crap bowl.
Theologian Stanley Hauerwas on abortion
Rick Warren gives ten key points for pastors to remember in 2012.
Ever wonder what happens to your luggage after it goes on that conveyor belt at the airport after its tagged? Here you go. Now you know.
Scot McKnight weighs in on his books of the year. What would you add to the list?
The 11 Geekiest Family Portraits Ever
The Importance of Being Ourselves. A short – and powerful – reminder.
Byron Borger weighs in on the Best Book Covers in Christian Publishing in 2011
Flying stingrays? Stunning video.
Goals – not resolutions
Over the last few years I’ve noticed something about the first two weeks of January: I dread going to the gym.
It’s not because I am unmotivated to get there or that I am trying to lose a few pounds. No, going to the gym is a normal part of my routine. I dread going because the gym is always packed and crowded for these two weeks and it takes me forever do my workouts. Other regulars at the gym joke that they can’t wait until people’s resolutions are broken by mid-January so they can use the workout equipment again without a wait time. Maybe that is selfish or cynical of me to think this way. Truthfully, I applaud the effort on these well-meaning people with their resolutions. It’s just that they rarely ever stick. It always strikes me as a little funny and a little more than awkward.
Several years ago I resolved to never set New Year’s resolutions again. I’m growing more and more convinced that resolutions are made to be broken. Goals, however, are made to be accomplished.
Most Americans know the track record for New Year’s resolutions. (I recently read a survey showing that most Americans can’t remember their New Year’s Resolutions by March 1, so we shouldn’t be too surprised that we fail at them).
Oftentimes, we set ourselves up to fail with resolutions.
I want to lose weight.
I want to go to the gym.
I want to find a special someone.
I want to travel.
I want to be closer to God and have more faith.
No doubt, these are good and admirable, but how will you measure them? How will you break that down in accomplishable pieces? How will I know what you meant by ‘go to the gym’? (Do you mean go 2 times in the month of January and never again the remaining 11 months or do you mean three times a week consistently for the entire year?) We fail because we have no plan.
A few years ago I heard this great nugget of wisdom: if you are going to set goals, make them SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely). SMART goals have accountability to them. Did you accomplish your goals? If they are SMART, the answer is either a simple yes or no. I try to make my goals SMART ones.
In addition, I email them to a few close friends and give them permission to ask me about them during the year. It is a grace-filled form of accountability that I need along the way. Sometimes the goals change, but most of the time they remain in tact for 12 months. Some are silly and trivial. Some have massive implications on my spiritual, emotional or relational life. Some are challenges for the particular year. Others are habits I am trying to establish in order to remain with me for the rest of my life. Some are small tweaks. Other goals are massive lifestyle overhauls. It’s fun. And demanding. And it can be draining. But I find the discipline to be important and the tasks to be thrilling. It keeps life from being dull.
I get quite reflective and contemplative around January. In Greek mythology, Janus was a god with two faces – one facing forward and once facing backwards. It’s where we get our word January. Last night I sat down and spent time reflecting on 2011 and considering 2012. I spent considerable time reviewing my 10 goals for 2011, which I had typed out and taped on the inside of my Moleskine journal last year at this time. With some of my goals, I did well. I’m grateful and excited to see most of them accomplished. Other goals, however, I failed miserably. I’m still processing why I succeeded at some and failed at others.
For the past three weeks I’ve pondered and prayed as to what goals I should set for 2012. I’m both excited and nervous about the them, knowing that I will be pushed and that discipline will be required from me if I have any shot of achieving them.
Last week I heard two questions that a pastor-friend of mine asks himself at the end of each year:
- What am I thankful to Jesus for in the year past?
- What am I trusting Jesus for in the year ahead?
Great, great questions. These questions help me to solidify my goals for 2012. Let me encourage you: set goals, not resolutions. You might surprise yourself this year.
Oh, one final thought. I heard a great piece of practical wisdom a while ago, poignant especially for this first week of January when resolutions, goals, dreams, to-do lists, tasks and expectations have a tendency to be sky high:
Don’t try to boil the ocean. Just get a few things done by Thursday.
By Faith… in 2011
The past few years a few pastor-friends of mine have written a Year In Review of their faith communities based on the Hebrews 11 statement by faith. I started it a few years ago and wrote one again this year. As I reflect back over the past year I’m so grateful for all that God has done and for the many people who’ve followed Jesus into the great unknown called faith and obedience. Each year it is impossible for me to write this without shedding tears of gratitude as I reflect on the work that God has done in our little Jesus community.
By faith…
Hebrews chapter 11 tells the stories of faithful men and women who have gone before us. Their stories, seen most clearly through their actions, are meant to inspire us follow their example and live as a community that exists to be renewed and participate with God in helping to renew the world in the name of Jesus.
With these stories as our inspiration, God continues to write the story through the faithful men and women of The Renew Community.
...in 2011
By faith, the people of Renew attempted to live out the ways of Jesus through hope and love through various expressions in their homes, neighborhoods, workplaces and everywhere they went.
By faith, they trusted that God could use them to be ambassadors and representatives of the Risen Christ.
By faith… Doug and Mear Moister, along with their children Caleb and Kiley, joined Renew as Doug participated in the Renew Apprenticeship Program, leaving his position at his church and joining our community to discern where God would have he and his family in ministry.
By faith… Nate and Bess Clemmer, shortly after getting married, were sent to be missionaries through Youth With a Mission for training in Colorado and are now serving in India. Their example to trust Jesus entirely from the very start of their marriage speaks of tremendous faith in their Father.
By faith… Bill and Beth Carroll hosted Vlad for a month, a young boy from Ukrainian orphanage, in order to love him practically in the name of Jesus, despite a language barrier. They sacrificed time and money to provide a loving home and safe environment for him. The Carrolls are now in the process of working to adopt Vlad permanently, bringing him to the United States.
By faith… Joe Mountz came to put his trust in Christ, leaving behind his former destructive lifestyle in order to live into the ways of Jesus. Joe is now a student at Montgomery County Community College and desires to become a pastor one day.
By faith… Paul and Amber Groesbeck and Joe Mountz were baptized while the Renew Community celebrated wildly during a rainstorm on the banks of the near-flooded Perkiomen Creek, thanking God for the work of transformation.
By faith… Tracy and Jenna Commons moved on from our community to pursue the direction that God had called them to serve as ambassadors of mission in another local congregation.
By faith… Renew moved into a new facility, the North Penn Valley Boys and Girls Club for many reasons, the main reason being to serve our community be serving the boys and girls in that building. By faith…Jason and Becca Sheffield, along with their son Cadence, completed the Renew Apprenticeship Program. Jason, being our first apprentice to graduate from the program, followed God’s call to help start a new kingdom initiative in Lincoln, Nebraska.
By faith… Kent & Cindy Gerhart, Dave & son Tyler Allem, Michael Smith and Brendon Derr stepped forward and committed to becoming House Church Shepherds, leading and serving in a local house church in the region.
By faith…Cheryl Ensinger, Julie Spratt and Tyler Allem served for a week in Costa Rica, bringing medical supplies and practically serving remote villages with basic medical needs.
By faith…Jon and Karrie Hoover continued to worship and thank God for his goodness, despite months of treatment for Karrie’s AVM and multiple brain operations. Though they have walked through the valley of the shadow of death multiple times this year, they have trusted God and honored him fully.
By faith… Kent and Cindy Gerhart made deliberate decisions to live for Christ by adjusting their schedules. They ate regularly at Biggy’s Diner, took ballroom dancing classes and became active participants (and cast members) at the Dutch County Players Theater in an attempt to live out the mission of God by building relationships with those far from God. Their faithful service to Christ to those outside of the church inspired others to live differently as well.
By faith… Steve High filled in for Jon Hoover while he was caring for his wife by leading us in worship through singing in our gatherings. He has been extremely willing to serve in ways that allowed our community to experience God further and deeper.
By faith… twelve men participated in an intense season of discipleship, committed to levels of accountability to follow Jesus more closely. Steve High, Mike Gribbin, Brendon Derr, Caleb Mangum, Paul Groesbeck, Joe Mountz, Michael Phelps, Ken Worstall, J.R. Briggs, Doug Burns, Michael Smith and Loren Knox studied and memorized Scripture, prayed, offered their lives to the other men and committed to discipling at least two other men at the completion of the group, anticipating further kingdom fruit in the future.
By faith… Amber Phelps joined staff as our bookkeeper, seeing the finances of Renew not as dollars and cents, but as opportunity and potential to fund activity in the kingdom of God. Her excitement has inspired others to see generosity as a spiritual discipline and an incredible opportunity to experience joy.
By faith… J.R. and Megan Briggs, with the full support of Renew elders and leaders, started Kairos Partnerships, an umbrella organization that seeks to serve pastors and leaders, equipping them for further fruitful ministry.
By faith… Doug Moister accepted the position as Renew pastor, serving full-time to help see the kingdom flourish in the North Penn Region. By faith the Renew Communitiy fully embraced and celebrated Doug’s arrival on staff to help the community pay attention to God and respond appropriately.
By faith… numerous people served tirelessly behind-the-scenes in Renew Kids, insuring our children are safe, engaged, loved, cared for, and taught that God loves them deeply.
By faith…Denise Coyle taught and shepherded Renew women in their understanding of their inheritance from God, making meals, meeting regularly with the women and interceding on their behalf.
By faith… Walt Coyle, Chris Tyres, Tyler Allem and others served behind the scenes with our sound and A/V equipment, making sure all the details and logistics were covered for our gatherings.
By faith… the community of Renew prayed desperately for the life of Mike and Lisa Gribbin’s daughter. When doctors told the Gribbins that their child had little chance to live – and if she did that she would be born with Downs Syndrome – Renew rallied in faithful prayer and fasting, asking for nothing less than God’s miraculous and evident involvement and healing in her life. God graciously heard our faith-filled and desperate prayers as Mike and Lisa welcomed baby Honor into the world, baffling the medical community. After a significant heart surgery was successfully completed at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia when Honor was two months old, she is now home living as a healthy infant. The fingerprints of God cannot be ignored in the life of the Gribbins in 2011. Honor’s young yet significant life has truly done just that: honored her heavenly Father.
By faith…Tim Culp, Dennis Brice, Jon Hoover, Duane Freed, J.R. Briggs and Doug Moister have served as elders, seeking to humbly serve and provide wise spiritual oversight for the community.
By faith… the Renew Community participated in the Advent Conspiracy during the month of December, re-directing a portion of their finances away from consumption and towards compassion in order to support Daughters – an organization in Cambodia that takes young girls out of the sex trafficking/human trafficking industry – and the Boys and Girls Club, which seeks to serve thousands of students in our community. Many people gave generously to the Advent Conspiracy, trusting God with their finances despite a bad economy, surpassing what was given during last year’s Advent Conspiracy.
By faith…people gave generously and faithfully of their money, time, and prayer in order to live faithfully as men and women who seek to follow Christ’s example. Knowing that, by faith, anything we have been a part of in 2011 has only come by God’s grace working in us.
It would be impossible to chronicle all the simple, subtle, compassionate acts of faith – many of which happened in secret, anonymously and in the midst of the daily life and rhythm of this community.By faith… the people of Renew have loved when it has been easy and have loved when it has been hard. By faith, they have sacrificed for the sake of others. By faith, they have given out of abundance and given out of little. By faith, they have generously shared meals with strangers and shared meals with long-time friends. By faith, they have shared their faith in Jesus when asked and have had to ask forgiveness when opportunities have been missed.
By faith… the people of Renew have sought to do their best to live out our commitment to follow Jesus with all of our lives…
By faith…we enter into 2012 and beyond, knowing that God will be faithful to finish the work that He has started in this community, and in each of our lives, as we seek to humbly follow Jesus and be a blessing to our communities and the world.
Thoughts and musings on the week between the Eves
Normally, the week between the Eves is the time where many people make their predictions, give advice and reflect on the year before setting goals for the new one.
Being a goal-setter and one who likes to take time to reflect, learn from the past and dream about the future, here are two links I’ve found this week that are worth sharing: here and here.
Im eager to hear from you all:
A. What do you predict the new year will bring/not bring?
B. What have you earned the past year that is worth sharing?
C. What goals are you setting for 2012?
D. How important or necessary – if at all – should goal-setting be for people?
the one string we have: attitude
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circustmances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home.
The remarkable thing is that we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. the only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.”
-Charles Swindoll
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