Jonathan Herron

Five Reality Checks God Gives Us

1.  GOD DIDN'T SAVE THE RECEIPT... HE SAVED ME!
"Christ REDEEMED us from the curse...
by becoming a curse for us..." - Galatians 3.13
The Son of God went ALL IN at the cross - - he bought me!  Purchasing me back from the dead cost Jesus EVERYTHING - - He became a CURSE in the eyes of the Father so that I could be CURSELESS before God.  And guess what?  God threw away the receipt - - He will NEVER "return" me.  I am His!  I am bought, I am immeasurably valuable, I am loved!

2.  I HAVE A NEW CAR SMELL. 
"I have been crucified WITH Christ. 
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." - Galatians 2.10
I love new-car-smell.  I don't know where it comes from, but somebody should bottle that scent and market it!  New things are attractive and valuable.  And in Christ, I am perpetually new!  All the dents and dings from my past are erased - - my old self was nailed to the cross through Christ.  Now the Son of God lives IN me, renewing me day by day - amazing!

3.  I AM CLOTHED BETTER THAN LADY GAGA.
"For as many of you as were baptized into Christ
have PUT ON Christ." - Galatians 3.27
Lady Gaga is right: I was "born this way"... full of messy sin!  I needed to be born ANOTHER way... in Christ!  Unlike Gaga, I don't need to proclaim my authenticity by hiding behind layers of makeup and wardrobe changes.  My baptism was a milestone event, a life-long symbolic reminder that I am wearing something better than a crazy outfit or, um, an egg... I am clothed in Christ Jesus!

4.  I WANT TO BE MORE LIKE JESUS.
"The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." - Galatians 6.14
This world has nothing to offer me.  I am not defined by trends, television, or social media.  In fact, I "disliked" Facebook a long time ago!  I'm much more interested in time spent in God's Book: it breathes life, builds me up, and defines my life.  I choose to be influenced by Jesus alone - He is my Role Model, my Master, my Rescuer!

5.  I AM DEFINED BY CHRIST, NOT CRITICS.
"From now on let me no one cause me trouble,
for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." - Galatians 6.17
I don't have anything to prove and I am free from shame.  Christ is all the confidence I need... and He is FOR me, not against me!!  That doesn't mean the journey ahead will be easy; leaders are always misunderstood and have a rock collection from what comes their way (see Galatians 1.10!).  Like Paul experienced in Galatia, you can always identify who the leaders are... they have scars.  But you know what?  So did Jesus.

Jesus is enough... and I am His!

No, the World is NOT going to END this weekend!

* begin rant *

I commented on this this past Sunday,
but as a quick recap...

I'm not a prophet,
I'm not the son of a prophet,
and I work for a non-profit organization,
but believe me when I say,

 

NO,

the World is NOT going to END this Saturday!

 

YES,

this is a CRAZY prediction not based on Scripture!

In fact, I can't wait to see the press release that will have to put out on Sunday... when the predicted worldwide earthquake and impending apocalypse fail to materialize!

Listen, I'm not a rock-thrower by any means, but you can sniff out a false prophet pretty easily. 

The leader of this group is eating too many Fruit Loops and
has gone coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs. 

He is already known for predicting a date for the end of the world back in the 1980's... and, um, it didn't happen.

Deuteronomy 18 is clear on this one:

You may say to yourselves, 'How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?'  If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD DOES NOT take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken.

I'm sure this group is sincere in their beliefs... but they are sincerely wrong.

Just as every family has a wacky black sheep uncle that you don't understand yet love anyway, we want to love these folks... without stockpiling waterbottles, canned goods, and AK-47's!

And by the way, just for the record, you're going to be just fine in 2012 too.

Seriously, am I to worry about a bunch of old school Mayans who "predicted" the end of all civilization yet TOTALLY MISSED THE BOAT on predicting their own civilization's end?!  Really?!

* sigh *

end rant.

Josiah:  Mom, I need to go to work.
Me:  Oh, where do you work?
Josiah:  The breakfast church.
Me:  What do you do there?
Josiah:  Not hit!  Oh man, I want to stay home, but I gotta go to work.  See ya later Mama.

TRUST. IS. EVERYTHING.

If you asked me to sum up what I've learned in over a decade in church leadership, I'd give you three simple words:

TRUST.  IS.  EVERYTHING.

Trust = Relationship = Team.

And as John Maxwell says, "It takes team-work to make the dream-work."

I enjoy working with a loyal team:
loyal to Jesus, loyal to the vision, loyal to each other.

When there's trust, we believe the best.  This boosts energy and attitude.

Trust says, "I have your back."
Trust says, "No negative surprises."

Do not curse the king, even in your thought;
do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom;
for a bird of the air may carry your voice,
and a bird in flight may tell the matter.
(Ecclesiastes 10:20, NKJV)

Gossip shatters trust.
Public criticism dislocates loyalty.
Its hard to build something beautiful with a sledgehammer.

Team loyalty has to be fiercely guarded.
No friendly-fire.  No back-biting. 
If there's something to be said, we do it quickly, quietly, face-to-face,
and with grace.

And when a decision is made, we unite and champion the decision.
(Leadership is not making the decision,
its owning the decision after its been made).
This builds more trust.

When I'm hiring, I'm looking for a history of loyalty and trust.
Past behavior is a good indicator of future choices.

And I'll take a trusting teammate any day.

 

"I Will Pursue You Always!"

The Royal Wedding a few weeks ago had the focus of the globe. 
People LOVE weddings.

Annually we see money, time, and effort poured into wedding ceremonies:



Wow!  But how often do we focus on the WEDDING and not on the MARRIAGE?

At history's very first wedding in Genesis 2:24,
Adam was instructed to "be united" to his bride. 

A husband and wife are biblically "one flesh."  God brings things together.

Being united daily to your spouse requires this daily mantra:
"I Will PURSUE You Always!"

If all spouses made this their daily vow, we would see less people fighting IN marriages and more people fighting FOR their marriages!

What does it look like to pursue your spouse daily? 
Its as easy as Ephesians 5:33.

Men can make a PACT to pursue their wife daily through:

Protection
Affections
Conversations
Thoughtfulness

Ladies can fan the flames of the relationship by daily pursuing AIR:

Admiration
Intimacy
Reassurance

Marriage is good, God-honoring, and hard work!  Pursue, pursue, pursue.

Fail Harder

As Facebook use exploded, founder Mark Zuckerberg realized he had to release more and more of the work to web programmer and developers. 
He couldn't do it all by himself.

Sometimes details fell through the cracks.
Mistakes happened.
And that's ok.

Because Zuckerberg knew that
effective leaders cannot micro-manage people. 
You must give them freedom and margin to hit the wall and learn.

"Fail Harder."  That's his mantra.

The same is true for you:

Your effectiveness as a leader will INCREASE
as the load on your plate DECREASES.

For church leaders, this means enabling more and more people.

I believe in the saying, "Saved People Serve People!"

But remember, as you release ministry, you unleash mistakes.

And that's ok.

We cannot microwave leaders. 
You have to give your workers time to make mistakes.

Crock-pots develop s-l-o-w-l-y.

And that's ok.

Thomas Edison famously said,
"I have not failed.  I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

Failure is the incubator of leadership.

Failure says that we get to try another direction in solving this problem.

Fail fast.  Fail small.  Fail harder.

C.H. Spurgeon on Heaven

A little stay on earth will make heaven more heavenly.

Nothing makes rest as sweet as work does;

nothing renders security as pleasant as exposure to danger does.

We would not wish to enter heaven until our work is done,

and it may be that we are yet ordained to minister light

to souls trapped in the darkness of sin.

Our prolonged stay here is doubtless for God's glory.

It is for the honor of Jesus that we endure

the trials of our faith with sacred joy.

If to live on earth forever would make my Lord more glorious,

it would be my heaven to be shut out of heaven.

Every Church Could Learn Something from the Beardpocalypse

Last night on Conan, Will Ferrell made a change.

 

Striving to Improve

I love our Staff Team.  I think they're All-Stars.

Leading with clarity in a spirit of humility.

Always learning.  Leaning in.  Striving to improve.

Perry posted Seven Questions to Discuss in Your Next Leadership Meeting.

So today after a round of Zip-Zap-Zop, we did just that. 
So helpful and clarifying. Defintely recommend it for your team.

For what its worth, here's what we whiteboarded/discovered:

Hoping to Adopt

Our lives were touched by adoption four years ago with the arrival of baby Josiah.  Many people ask us if we are going to adopt another child. 
The answer is, "We'd love to!"

We are currently working with a Christian agency that has a strong track record  - Adoption Associates.  In addition, we are also welcoming the help of our family, friends, and blog friends to help us network to locate a birthmom. 

Keep your eyes and ears open - - if you hear of someone with an unplanned pregnancy considering making an adoption plan, point them to our online Adoption Profile and we'll do the rest!  Thanks for partnering with us in our family's journey!