Isaac had a wonderful birthday party (his actual birthday was April 15th), and was surrounded by family and friends. We celebrated with games, cake and ice cream, and singing. Thank you all for your birthday wishes.
Struggling With Ambition
In ministry there have been words and concepts that I have struggled with — one of these words is ambition. Webster defines ambition as;
“1 a : an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power b : desire to achieve a particular end, 2 : the object of ambition <her ambition is to start her own business>, 3: a desire for activity or exertion <felt sick and had no ambition>”
Servant leaders are supposed to be humble and not point others to themselves but instead are to point others to Christ. Right? As a pastor of a small church, I have for a long time told myself, “What do you have to add?” People want to hear from the Andy Stanleys and Mark Driscolls, or other big name persons. What does Drew Boswell of small church USA have to say, and why would anyone care? My church produces cds of the sermons — but I would tell myself “other than the congregation, who is listening, or would care?”
My thinking changed when I came across a principle I am currently calling, “the principle of multiplication.”  It’s the idea that if I put 10-20 hours in a sermon, or 4-5 hours putting together a training workshop, or some other labor intensive work, would’t it be great if I could do something else with that same material?  So I have experimented with blog entries, taking parts of sermons and using them as articles, etc. I really liked the idea of the Bible being shared with the world via the internet. So, I started my web site. I have been amazed at how many people are listening, reading and taking serious the things that God has laid upon my heart. There is a huge desire to hear the Bible preached and taught, there is also a huge desire to learn how to preach God’s Word and lead in  church.
Recently, I have received two separate e-mails from pastors in other countries asking me to come and teach their pastors theology, and to preach the gospel. I have been so blessed by God. I have been able to go to seminary, and even complete my doctorate. I am not saying this to brag, but to point to what God has done in my life. I have been so blessed — yet there are so many who need help! How many pastors in the world would give their right arm for a seminary education? Wouldn’t it be sinful if I did not respond in some way?
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. [20] And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, [21] who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.(Luke 16:19-21 ESV)
I checked airfare costs — $1,600. That’s really all that is stopping me from telling people in the Phillipines, Australia, India, Africa, “the utter most” and sharing with them what God has lavished upon me. 1,600 dollars is what it will cost for me to share the gospel, and equip pastors. I am praying that God will continue to move, and I am seeking to stay faithful. Wouldn’t it just be wrong for me to ignore their pleas. The rich man would have seen Lazarus every time he left his home. I see those who need help every time I boot up my computer and my heart is heavy.
In this picture, these are two of the teachers in a school in Honduras that I gave a teaching workshop at last summer. We discussed learning styles and they were given the assignment to put together a visual aid to teach the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. They were so excited to learn about how to teach a lesson. I was blown away with their excitement and willingness to receive the information. They will take this information and apply it to the teaching of orphans.
God has given me a gift, and treasures beyond my ability to count. I am seeking to be ambitious for the sake of the gospel, not so that I may be great. It has been through this process that God has shown me that I have a gift, and that I should use it for all that it is worth to reach as many people as I can with that gift (I didn’t say it was a great gift, only that it is my gift). God does use men (and women) and he has said in Genesis 12:2, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” God blessed Abraham so that he could bless others in God’s name. I believe that God has given you and me a gift — be ambitious to maximize it for His glory!
Please pray about how you can help me in equipping pastors, churches, and sharing the gospel around the world (and at home). I have copied one (of several) of the e-mails that I have received so that you can read it;
Dearest Beloved Pastor and Family;
Greetings!
It is my honor and pleasure to take this opportunity to write as I came across your ministry over the Internet. I believed that my letter is a big surprise to you yet, it is with great joy to share my ministry work here in the Philippines through letters. I believed it is not by accident but by God’s grace He really made it possible.
Let me introduce my name, ministry, and family and a little background about my work here in the Philippines. I am Lloyd J. Labus, 30 years old, married and I was blessed with one Son and I am grateful that the Lord nurtured him into His Divine ways. I am an independent minister of the Lord for the great commission. I have started this very rewarding missionary work way back 2001 as its started from one of the indigenous family in one of the small mountain village here in Davao province, until it grew up to many families in an adjacent and neighboring villages. The Lord moves in a tremendous ways through miracles until I finally was able to put up 10 indigenous churches that right now I oversee.
I am engaged in church planting, outdoor meetings, home bible studies, pastoring church, handing out Gospel tracks to bus terminals, hospitals, prison cells, as well as feeding children. My vision is focus on tribal and indigenous cultural communities and less fortunate in our societies, as I found it more interesting to served the Lord despite of hardship for the sake of paramount need for soul’s harvest. Hence, I am glad to witness it with my own eyes that lost souls are save for Christ.  I just cannot afford to see them die without Christ.
This ministry that I have is self-supporting, self-propagating, and self governing. I run this very rewarding missionary work by faith through the generous contribution of our poor tenant brethren who love the Lord despite of their poverty living conditions.
This place of ministry that I engaged in is thickly populated with muslims and paganism a religious belief coming from  the  ancestral religious taboo, were people are used to worship stone and etc. there are always strong pressure on our part because me and my family are being harass, mock, and even harm, my heart bleeds seeing them lost yet, despite all the pressures that we encountered, hardship that we faced, we are not discouraged we are seeking God to our fervent prayer that somehow God will open up their minds and hearts to the genuine truth that we both preach and live.
As I came across your website over the computer, I was prompted to write assuming that you can help us with sound, accurate, vibrant, spirit filled messages and enriched wisdom to your teaching materials, as the Lord surrounded us with many gifted and willing men and women who are ready to take the gospel of salvation to the unreached souls in all provinces, cities, rural areas, mountain villages here in Mindanao even to the entire island of Philippine archipelago.
To do this, I believe we need also prayer support from you, who are willing and be able to endow us with spiritual cover and mantle of authority to put their shoulders to wheel with us and stand with us in this great calling for us to lay down our lives for our brethren. I strongly believe that we are one in the body of Christ; I do hope that you are open to welcome us as part of your family ministry there though we are here in the Philippines.
How we really wish as well to see you personally and it is our honor and privilege should you have time someday to visit and share the gospel here in the Philippines. You are very welcome to visit and see our work personally here in the Philippines and it is a big blessing for us to work with you together in the Lord’s work. Lastly may God bless and your family and all your Divine undertakings rest assured that we will keep in touch with you with our prayers and reports of our work here in the Philippines.
Looking forward to hear from you soon…………
Sincerely yours,
LLOYD J. LABUS
Native Tribal Pastor
Prk narra magugpo east
Tagum city, Davao Del Norte
8100 Philippines
“Leave No Trace” Leadership; Two Principles of Delegation
In scouting there is the phrase “Leave No Trace.” It is an outdoor moral ethic that carries the tenant that upon you entering or leaving the woods, trail, forest, etc. that there are no indications that you have been there. What if we carry over this idea to leadership — “upon your entry or exit there should be no trace of you.” Notice that I did not say your work. A leader’s job is to equip, train, teach, and lead in such a way that others do ministry and do it well. Far too many leaders fail to hand tasks over to others (delegation). Why they do this varies from leader to leader — some simply feel there is no one who can do it like they can, or there is no one there, or they just enjoy doing the task (or many tasks).
Leaders also want to make a difference (see the logo the home page). They feel that if they do less and others do more then they are not “pulling their weight,” or they may lose their ministry position.
Delegation Principle #1 — Let Go
Make it  top priority to get out from under any tasks that other people “can” do. Do you really need to be doing bulletins, taking out the trash, or teaching  in a classroom? Perhaps, but perhaps not. Train others to do the task, and let it go! This is the only way your ministry will ever grow. You can only do so much in 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You don’t get extra points for doing everything. You are actually robbing others of an opportunity to serve Christ. Are you wanting others to see how much you are doing? By letting go of some things, you can pick up new tasks, or do what only you can do, better.
Delegation Principle #2 –Â Step Back
Leave no trace of your presence. Many leaders are the “linchpin” of their organizations. If they aren’t there, everything falls apart. You will get sick, want a vacation, or just take a breather. How will these things happen if you are the only one who knows how or are willing to do the ministry? Obi Wan had Anikan Skywalker, Batman had Robin, and Jesus had the disciples. Find out and do only what you can do, and then find an apprentice. Â That “thing” might be preaching, but if you look and pray hard enough there is someone you can train to do “it” too. Step back and let someone else stand in your place for time to time (like vacation time!)
Back to Leave No Trace
As leaders we want to be remembered for our impact on life — but the cold reality is we won’t. Because it has never been, nor will it ever be about us. It is and has always been about God, and His glory. Your task is to pass on knowledge and skills to as many people as possible as you can so that God may receive glory and His bride (the church) may be strong. Leave no trace of your name, only your work.
Questions to ask yourself:
1. Do I have to do everything? Why do I cling to certain tasks?
2. What is it that only I can do in my organization? What tasks do I need to “unload?”
*This brings up another topic to consider in this process. People are not there to make your life easier — they are people, not bodies to do things for you. You must love them, and have their benefit at heart. How can you help them to do their new ministry better? When will you check on them to see how it is going? Did you write them a thank you note? Do they know that you love them? How?
The primary reason for “Leave No Trace” is so that those who come after you can enjoy nature, just as you have enjoyed nature. Â In leadership if you do leave a trace, then those after you have to clean it up, or deal with the disturbance or benefit from the advancement.
Solo Dei Gloria
You Get to Drink From the Fire Hose! – Enthusiasm and Ministry
Have you ever wanted to be “cool?” In school did you want to sit at the “cool kid’s” table? At work, do you want to be invited to lunch with the cool people? I tend to live on the edge of that line — somehow crossing into the cool zone (occasionally), while also remaining in the almost cool zone. Let’s be honest, we all want to be liked, remembered, favored, found attractive –Â you know — cool.
In leadership and ministry this feeling and desire does not go away just because we are followers of Christ. In fact, there are many leaders who are leaders simply because they want to be thought highly of, for their name to be remembered, etc. This desire to be cool and loved in the church should be based on our love for Christ and how He has loved us — therefore, we love others. But we also have a fleshly desire that we battle everyday. When the flesh wins then you get a leader who will do just about anything to be popular. Even growing out a small “soul patch†on his lower lip because now he is in youth ministry that that seems to be required.
When this desire for coolness causes one to cross lines of conventionality you have entered into a danger zone. You must have a mechanism that drives you to constantly ask the question, “Why are we doing this?” It should be deeper than, “it’s cool.” Let me give you a real live example. Organizers of a youth conference put together a series of slides that used a phrase that I will not give here due to its’ vulgarity. The slides were designed to be humorous and to fill time while the kid’s filtered into an auditorium before a worship service.  The organizers had heard youth using the phrase, but did not take the time to check and see what the phrase actually meant. They assumed they knew, and went forward with adding it to the slides. (Please don’t ask, I won’t tell you what the phrase was)
Most of the youth, and none of the leaders truly knew what it meant. All they knew is that others were saying it, and it was “cool.” However, the very few “cool” kids they were trying to reach with their adult coolness, now are laughing inside and now know for sure they these adults and “organizers” are not “cool.” The desire to be “culturally relevant” and “cool” now has caused them to cross that unseen line that now has caused a mess. The phrase made it’s way back to the homes of the youth where the true meaning became known. Now the youth pastors and helpers have a situation they wished would just go away.
While my next example is not truly a children’s ministry example, and Stanley Spadowski is not your children’s director, but I think you will get the idea.
Watch Out When the Children’s Pastor Brings a Fire Hose Into Church!
Imagine your children’s pastor doing things like this with kids. You can make it fun without shooting kids across the room with a fire hose. So how do you keep this from happening?
- Build in a System that asks the hard question, “Why are we doing this?†The answer should be deeper than, “it’s cool.†How does this graphic, event, game, etc. fit into the over all strategy and plan for the church or ministry? This system should include someone other than you. Build a team around you that doesn’t mind questioning you about the “master plan.â€[1]
- As a leader it’s ok to not be “cool†or to live in that gray area in-between. You don’t have to rush out to buy parachute pants, a single glove, grow a soul patch, get a Mohawk, a red jacket with zippers all over it, or write “cool†fifty times in your blog entry.
My last example is when enthusiasm and excitement cross the line into some weird place that does little to reach a lost world for Christ. Watch the baptistery!
[1] What do you mean you don’t have a “master plan?†Dude (or Dudettte) you need to get one. You should not be scratching around for games and a lesson on the Sunday afternoon before the youth gathering Sunday night. Call me; we’ll put something together!
Bear Den of Pack 277 Go to Weis
N.R. Getic George used to be full of energy but now he feels weak and tired. He cannot stay focused at school and does not feel like playing with his friends. N.R. Getic George needs help solving the mystery of how he lost his energy. This is clearly a case for a group of brilliant detectives to solve. The Bear den of Pack 277 went to work and solved the mystery!
Thank you Tracy M. for arranging the evening, and thank you Weis for your support of the community.
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