Here are my random thoughts, observations and insights from yesterday followed by Justin’s message notes.

• No matter what campus I’m at, I’m always missing the others and wishing I could be everywhere at once.
• I recognize that I wear my team out with details on Sunday mornings.  Some things you just have to coach in the moment, but there are other things that can wait.  I’m trying to learn to save what can wait and follow that up with good overall feedback on Mondays.
• I’m amazed and excited by the fact that the more campuses we have the more we rely on volunteer leaders to really lead and run the show.  We should have volunteer leaders already leading at this capacity, but multi-site has forced us to really equip leaders that way.  Did I mention I’m thankful for our volunteers?
• Justin continued our Chronicles series with the parable of The Two Debtors.  I have never heard anyone tell the story of the woman who washed Jesus feet with such passion and beauty.  Truly powerful.  The notes won’t do it justice so be sure to go listen online.

The Two Debtors by Justin Davis

Luke 7:36-50

When Jesus looks into this woman’s eyes, she feels love for who she is, not what she does.

An absence of gratitude allows religion to replace relationship.

What word would you use to describe your relationship with God right now? 

Numb, guarded, repetitive, distant, absent, controlled, exhausted, dull, beat up, disappointed, mechanical, uninspiring

Has gratitude for grace leaked out of your life?

When God doesn’t react the way we think he should react, we’re quick to question Him.

It’s hard to be overwhelmed by grace when you’ve convinced yourself you don’t need it.

We are the big debtors in this story.  We’re in the biggest need of grace.

What we need to bring Jesus:

Gift of Repentance. Religion can put you at the table with Jesus but only repentance will put you at his feet.

Gift of Adoration. When was the last time you shamelessly adored God?  Does your worship to God reflect your gratitude for grace?

He who has been forgiven of much, loves much.

Will you bring Jesus your gift of repentance and adoration?

This week flew by!

Fortunately it was a very good one.  Here are some things on my mind today:

• An important project that I’ve been working on (which happened to be one of my thorns), is officially complete today!  Holy cow, that’s a wonderful feeling.  I’m not sure how to adequately celebrate it.
• It’s been a roller coaster week for all things Cultivate Her.  Some good news, some bad news, some big dreaming and then a great event this past Wednesday with our guest speaker Tami Heim.  We’re dreaming and scheming some amazing stuff for all things women in leadership, so stay tuned.
• Our Cross Point missions teams are back home this week.  Our team in the Dominican Republic came back Tuesday and our Honduras team gets back tomorrow.  So proud of each of these teams for serving so big!  You can check out highlights from the Honduras trip HERE.
• Almost finished with Steven Furtick’s new book Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible.  This one is making me think and pray BIG!  It doesn’t release until Sept 21st, but you can pre-order by clicking the title.
• Gotta finish up my talk for The NINES this weekend.  Are you registered to attend?  It’s FREE!  Our entire staff is going to attend this year.
• Can’t believe July is almost over.
• I’m working on some big planning and leadership development stuff for our team for this fall.  I’m getting so excited – love people development stuff – LOVE IT!
• My thumb which I smashed during flood week is growing back really funky.  Kind of afraid it’s going to stay that way. 
• Going to the beach for a few days the end of next week with my sis.  Can’t wait!
• Walking with Ash in 30 minutes!  Love that sweet little Audrey Beth but she has messed up our weekly run/walk time.  Excited to get back to it!
• Hoping to see Inception this weekend.  Everyone is raving about it.  Have you seen it?

Find some joy in your weekend and tell us about it!

I get the question all the time “are you hiring?”  So I’m excited to say that we are!  Here are the details for our current opening.

Cross Point Church

announces the search for

Campus Pastor for Cross Point Dickson

We’re excited to extend the search for the Campus Pastor position at our Dickson, TN campus.  Cross Point Dickson launched in January 2008 and was the first venture into multi-site ministry for our church.  Cross Point Dickson has grown strong and steady for 2 1/2 years and we’re excited to find the leader who will help us take this campus to it’s next season of growth and impact.

Preferred candidates will have experience leading in a church of 500+ in regular attendance and preferably experience in a multi-site church model.

Any interested individuals should submit a resume, social media contact, website/blog info (if applicable) and cover letter to Cross Point Executive Director, Jenni Catron at jenni@crosspoint.tv.  (That’s me )

I look forward to hearing from you.  And please feel free to pass the word along to anyone you know who may be interested.

I was recently talking to another Executive Pastor who was graciously asking me how we’ve been doing since the Flood in Nashville.  He was praising our team for how quickly we responded and served our community in that crisis.  And I had to be honest with him and tell him that it was “against my better judgment.”

I know, I know… that sounds horribly insensitive and calloused, but here’s what I mean.

Responding to the catastrophe of the flood was one of the most intense leadership situations I have ever found myself in.

We had to move.

We had to move fast… and we had no idea how.

Literally we asked volunteers to show up to help with flood relief and we had no idea what we were going to have them do.  I’m not joking.

We didn’t know exactly how to prep them and we certainly weren’t prepared with paperwork, tools, supplies, etc.

We didn’t do any of the things that a responsible Executive Director would normally be sure to do.  (I shudder just thinking back on it.)

But here’s the deal.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t thinking about the need for those things.

It wasn’t that I was throwing all caution to the wind.

It just wasn’t practical or possible in the state of emergency that we were facing for me to have every “i” dotted and every “t” crossed before we acted that Monday morning after the flood waters had ravaged over 10,000 homes in our community.

People needed hope and help immediately and they couldn’t wait on forms, procedure & process.

Talk about a “grey” leadership issue.  The compassionate side of me was aligning with our pastors to create an action plan to get people out to help, but my administrative side was raising red flags about the need for order, systems and protections.

This wasn’t black and white.  It was grey… really grey.

In the end, I believe we did what God called us to do that day.  We responded.  We loved people.  We provided hope for people.  And we provided practical help on that first day of recovery.

And to put you administrative types at peace, we did add all the proper administrative paperwork.  Even by Day 2 of relief efforts much of those things were in place.

Why didn’t we wait a day to have all of our “ducks in a row”? Because honestly, hurting people couldn’t wait for that.

For another day, another time, another project, you better believe that we’ll have our administrative stuff in order.  For events that are planned and prepared in advance, there’s no excuse for not following proper protocol and protections.

That’s wise.  It’s good stewardship of the responsibility we’re entrusted with as administrative leaders.

But every once in awhile, you’ll get thrown a leadership curve ball and you gotta pray for discernment in leading through the shades of grey.

Ever found yourself in one of these situations?

I spent my day at the Nashville campus today serving as the Worship Assistant.  I love this role because it provides me the opportunity to help set up our teaching pastor and to finish out the service with opportunities for people to respond and connect.  You could say I just did “announcements” but I always hope I can make it much more about helping people connect.

Before I give you the notes from the message today, I thought I would give you some additional highlights from today at the Nashville Campus:

• So proud of our worship team.  For those of you that don’t know, our entire band is made up of extraordinarily talented VOLUNTEERS every weekend at every campus.  These guys & gals are amazing.  Today we hit a hiccup and our drummer wasn’t able to be here, so our keyboard player (who also is an excellent drummer) changed gears, moved to the drum kit and brought his keyboard with him.  He played BOTH drums and keyboards for all four services!  That’s crazy dedication!
• After the 3rd service, I had the opportunity to reconnect with Gloria.  Gloria was one of the amazing people we met during flood week.  Her neighborhood was one of the hardest hit by the Nashville Flood just a little over 2 months ago and honestly Gloria still is struggling to figure out what to do.  I was so honored to pray for her, but left that conversation burdened by the work that still needs to be done to help families like hers get back on their feet.  Please pray for Gloria this week.
• We celebrated over a dozen baptisms today in our services.  Somehow this expression of a changed life never gets old to me… and I hope it never does.

Blake’s message today about The Good Shepherd was a powerful reminder of just how passionately God loves us.  I’m not sure we get it.  At least, I’m not sure that I get it.

Blake made one statement in his message that really stuck out to me.  He said “The mark of a true leader is self-sacrifice.”  Read his notes, ponder that statement and then let’s talk about it.

The Good Shepherd by Blake Bergstrom

John 9:24-25

Are you aware of the spiritual stories happening all around you?

Do you ever allow your agenda to get in the way of what God is doing?

John 10:1-5

Sheep trust the voice of their shepherd implicitly.

Sheep don’t need cowboys they need a shepherd.  The shepherd has earned the right to be heard.

What voices are you allowing to lead you?

Do you recognize the voice of God?  Are you listening to the voice of your shepherd to lead you?

John 10:6-10

Are you about sacrifice or self-promotion?

Do you represent the Cross or are you simply a hired hand?

John 10:11-14

The mark of a true leader is always self-sacrifice.

The Good Shepherd wants to tend to your every need.  Do you trust him?

The enemy is a thief, a robber of life and of love.

Do you understand that Christ is jealous for you?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Do you really truly understand just how deeply He loves you?

One of the greatest monsters that I wrestle with in my leadership is being confident in the calling and gifting God has for me.  I battle the usual suspects of insecurity, fear and playing the comparison game.

Last month at our Cultivate Her event in Nashville, I shared the story of Deborah and the confidence she displayed in her calling.  Deborah is one of my favorite leaders from scripture and I’m continuing to unpack layers of her leadership that fascinate me.

If you need a refresher on the story, hop over to Judges chapters 4 & 5.

Here are some key things I find in this story:

• Deborah is Judge of Israel during a time when Israel is being cruelly oppressed by the Canaanites
• We know she’s married and that she holds court under a palm trim on a hill (sounds like a nice office)
• She gets a command from God for Barak to rally 10,000 men and face the Canaanite army
• Barak refuses to go unless Deborah goes with him
• You never see Deborah waiver; she continually reminds Barak that God promised he would give Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army, into his hands.
• Chapter 5 is their victory song

I wish the writer of Judges had been a bit more descriptive about the relational and emotional dynamics going on behind the scenes in this story.  The writer tells us what happens and the decisions that Deborah makes, but doesn’t give us a ton of insight into how she felt or what she was processing through each decision.

It’s at this point that I start trying to place myself in the story.  How would I have felt?  What would I have been afraid of?

Here’s what I observe to be the keys to Deborah’s confidence:

1) She had EARNED INFLUENCE.

Deborah was a prophetess and judge of Israel at a time when it was highly unusual for a woman to serve in such positions of leadership.  It makes me think she must have had some significant influence to have been appointed to these positions to begin in.  She also must have displayed consistency of character, love for people, sound judgment, etc in her role as Judge.  Barak and the 10,000 leaders were willing to follow her lead and trusted what she said was God’s command.

2)  She displayed INCREDIBLE STRENGTH

I can’t imagine living in the times that she lived in.  Israel was weak, defenseless and far from God.  I suspect moral was low and hope was barely a flicker.  But Deborah had hope and a vision from God and out of this she summoned the strength to still the voices of doubt and timidity, and as one author describes, “called the people to battle, leading them out of idolatry and restoring their dignity as God’s chosen ones”.

3)  She showed CONSISTENT HUMILITY.

It seems like it would have been easy in her shoes to try to take the credit.  God gave her the command, so she could have easily told Barak, “God told me and you to lead the army”, but she didn’t.  She told Barak that God had called him to lead the army.  At that point, she probably had no idea what her role would be.  She was turning the power and the potential glory over to him.

I also love that in Judges 5:7, Deborah doesn’t refer to herself as judge, prophetess or leader.  She describes herself as “a mother in Israel.”  She didn’t need to prove herself or remind others of her positional power.

4)  She was FAITHFULLY OBEDIENT.

Deborah drew her confidence from her relationship with God.  God gave her the directive for the battle with Sisera and she didn’t lose sight of this even in the heat of it.  Judges 4:14 says “Then Deobrah said to Barak, ‘Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand.  Has not the Lord gone out before you?’” After the battle was finished she and Barak sang a victory song in which they repeatedly thank God.

Deborah’s story is such a key reminder to me of God’s faithfulness through our obedience.  I’m sure she didn’t sign up for all that her leadership would demand, but her confidence was in God’s power, not her own.  She was pursuing His glory, not hers and as a result the people she led experienced freedom for 40 years.  That’s remarkable influence!

What challenges do you face in being confident in your calling as a leader?

Ever been in a season of life that you just don’t like?

Maybe it’s a new job that isn’t what you expected?

Maybe it’s a season in your child’s life (like the terrible 2’s) that you wonder if you both are going to live through?

Maybe it’s being single or single again?

Maybe it’s a relationship with a family member or friend that for as much as you try to get it right, it’s just all wrong?

Ever been in one of those seasons where you’ve been trying so hard for so long that you just want to quit?

Walk away.

Give up.

I’ve had my share.

There have been seasons of my life when it has taken everything in me to push through and stick with it.

I didn’t want to.  I really didn’t want to.

I’ve literally begged God to fix the situation.  To let me give up.  To release me from the frustration and the pain.  Usually he doesn’t let me, and I find myself reflecting on this verse:

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

⁷To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Although my circumstances may be different from Paul’s.  They say that Paul’s affliction may have been physical.  Maybe for you it is.  Maybe it’s metaphorical.  But either way, I think the thing that most captures my attention when I read these verses is this part:

⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

I think sometimes God allows us to live in the discomfort of a season or circumstance because He is up to greater work than we can see.  It’s for His glory, not ours.  It’s for His power and strength to be seen… even if it’s just for us to see.

In a world that encourages us to:

…seek comfort

…find the easy way

…play to your strengths

…live your best life, etc.

I think we find ourselves very restless with the thorns.  We think we deserve better and so we whine and cry and blame instead of trying to find a way for God’s power to be made perfect in our weakness.

I love this next part of verse 9, Paul says:

“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Did you catch that?

“So that Christ’s power may rest on me.” There’s something very comforting about the idea of God’s power RESTING on me.

In the midst of your thorn, there is comfort if you’ll allow God’s power to be made known through your weakness.

How can you allow God’s power to be seen through your thorn?

I’m really enjoying our Chronicles series.  Although I’ve heard these parables before, I think sometimes it’s easy to brush over them and miss many of the points that Jesus was trying to communicate.  Justin did a great job with this one today.  I needed to be reminded of the power of a little seed… of a little hope!

The Mustard Seed & Yeast by Justin Davis

Parable – an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

Matthew 13:31-34

Have you ever had an unmet expectation of God?

When you’ve had enough unmet expectations, you lose hope.

Just because you can’t see it working doesn’t mean He’s not working.

Unmet expectations turn into hope deferred and hope deferred turns into spiritual disappointment.

Small beginnings from an unlikely source = Irresistible growth

We have unmet expectations of God because we’ve placed our culture’s measuring standards on a kingdom that can’t be measured.

We miss mustard seed moments because we resent small beginnings.

God’s work is not always instant, but it’s inevitable.

Don’t lose hope.

Hope waits patiently.

• God’s timing isn’t always our timing.
• God is much more concerned about your character than your calendar.
• What area of your life do you need to wait patiently?

Hope lives courageously.

• Courage is not the absence of fear.
• Courage is overcoming fear with faith.
• Is there an area of your life that you’ve allowed fear to overtake your faith?

God has placed a list of dreams in your heart… they may be your mustard see moments.

Once the seed is in the ground, once the yeast is in the dough, it’s only a matter of time.

Jesus knows all about broken dreams.

Don’t give up.

Don’t lose hope.

Is there an area of your life that you’ve lost hope?  How can I pray for you this week?

My life feels very frantic right now.  I can’t really catch my breath and I’m constantly feeling edgy.

Ever been in one of those seasons?

I don’t like the feeling and I don’t like myself.

So, today while I was walking I found myself praying, “God, what’s the deal?  Why am I so restless, stressed, frantic and irritated?  What do I need to do?”

And just as that word “do” came out of my mouth, I felt God kind of stop me in my tracks and say:

“You don’t need to do, you need to be.”

“Be?  Be what?  How do I be?”

I don’t know how to be.

Be still.

Be calm.

Be quiet.

Be prayerful.

Be listening.

Be thoughtful.

To be means simply to “exist or live”.

In all my frantic-ness, I’ve forgotten how to simply live.

Psalm 46:10

Be still, and know that I am God.

John Ortberg says in The Me I Want to Be

My main job is to remain connected to God.  When my primary focus is being present with him, everything else has a way of falling into place.

That’s what I want to be.

I just can’t figure out how to do it.

How about you?

This weekend at Cross Point we begin our new series “Chronicles – the Chronicles of the Parables of Jesus“.

I think it’s going to be a pretty cool series as all of our teaching pastors take on a couple of the parables and give us insight into the meaning and application for us today.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Interesting bit: Pastor Tom Tyndall who is the reader in this video piece officially begins his retirement today.  I’m so thrilled that he was able to be a part of this series even though he’ll be traveling and enjoying time with family for the next few weeks.

Pastor Tom has been an amazing pastor, friend and encourager to me and I’m so thankful for how he faithfully served Cross Point for over 7 years and the kingdom for 40 years!  What an amazing accomplishment!

We love you Tom!  I’m praying that you enjoy every minute of this new chronicle in your life!