Not Just Another Sentimental Christmas Message

Today I celebrate a most amazing and awesome Event ... the Event of all events ... the Creator of the universe made himself nothing and took the form of human flesh, a baby, a humble servant, a sacrifice for our sins, so that you and I may not perish but have eternal and abundant life.

I'm not celebrating Jesus' birthday today (He was probably born in the spring of the year). I am celebrating the arrival of God coming into our world -- Immanuel -- God with us. I'm worshiping the Messiah who came as a baby to be our King. It's not about Santa or sentimentality, worshiping Christmases past, but living in the present reality that Jesus Christ is my Savior and at the heart of my life. He's more than the reason for the season. He is the way -- God's way and the way to God. No one can come to the Father except through this One Way.

When God sent his only son into the world, Satan cringed. Sending Jesus as a baby was a part of God's battle plan to win back the world he loves so much.

When God sent Jesus he made a statement: "I am for you." And if he is for us, who can be against us? Nothing--absolutely nothing--can separate us from the love of Jesus. And so "I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—-nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—-absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us" (Romans 8:38-39, The Message).

Christmas Battle Prayer

I was thinking this morning about a perspective on Christmas I had never really considered before this year. When Jesus was born, it was as if God was sending his Son into the enemy's territory to do battle--battle for our souls. Peace on earth, goodwill to men will come in time. But now there is a spiritual war taking place, a war Jesus has already won. 

I went back this morning and reread one of my favorite battle passages in the Old Testament. It's in 1 Chronicles 14. King David goes to war against the Philistines, and twice stops to ask God what he should do. Each time, God gives him a different strategy, and David faithfully carries out God's plans. God's promise to David is true for Christian leaders today as well: "Go ahead. I will give you the victory."

Here's my prayer for myself and for you today:

Lord, help me be like David, a man after your own heart. Before I move forward with my plans and schemes today, give me the wisdom to first come and ask you whether I should do it. Help me through your Spirit, Lord, to pray specifically about your will, and give me the ears to listen and hear your response. Help me be attentive to you all day long, Lord. Then, when I hear your response, help me, like David, do exactly what you command. Thank you for your promise that you will be out ahead of me when I am carrying out your mission and your will--that you will already be working, arranging, orchestrating things so that as I carry out your work it will be effective and successful, not because of what I have done, but because of what you are already doing. Use me today, Lord to accomplish great things in and for your kingdom. Help me to seek first your kingdom, knowing everything else will fall into place. Rescue me from the petty today, Father. Make me passionate for what you are passionate about. Help me move out of my comfort and safety zones today, Lord, in total trust and reliance upon you.

Go ahead and do God's work today. He will give you the victory!

Abundant Life Leadership

I closed my last post with this sentence:

If you want to lead successfully, Jesus must first lead you!

To lead well and bear fruit, you must be connected to the Vine (John 15:5). Another way of illustrating  this is to imagine your life as a glass. As a spiritual leader, your main job is to be in a position where Jesus can pour into you to overflowing (see John 10:10; Ephesians 3:20; Psalm 23:5. The word for ""to the full" or "abundantly" means overflowing). As God pours His abundance into your life, you overflow into those He's put all around you. 

Your job as a small group leader is not to pour yourself out to others, but simply to allow God to fill and abundantly overflow your life into others with His love, mercy, and truth. 

So now I have a question, and I really need your response. How, specifically, is Jesus leading you? How are you opening yourself up to Him to fill and overflow your life into others? Please be specific, and share with other leaders so that we may grow together! 

Get the dialogue started below! 

Trophies, Cheerleading, Enoch, and Leading a Healthy Small Group

What do you want to be known for? What would you want people to say about you after you die?

At different stages of my life I would have responded to that question differently. As a kid growing up in Cincinnati, I wanted to be known as a great athlete, like Pete Rose or Oscar Robertson.

My athletic career was unspectacular. I accumulated a caseload of trophies, because I was on some good teams. I did get three individual awards, however. In basketball I got the award for Best Defense … which went to the kid who rarely scored a basket. In baseball one year, I got the Most Spirited Player trophy … which went to the kid who sat on the bench and cheered on the rest of the team.

My favorite award was the Most Improved Player … which went to the kid who didn’t stink quite as bad as the year before. The trophy had the initials “MIP” on the plaque. I overheard my mom telling all her friends I got the “Most Important Player” award. At least my mom appreciated my talent!

In college at the University of Cincinnati I would have said I wanted to be popular. Just for fun my freshmen year, I went out for the cheerleading squad. I figured at least I’d meet some pretty girls. On a fluke, I made the squad, three years straight. I was proud to be a “big man on campus.”

Today, in my better moments, I want to be like Enoch. You don’t hear too many people say that, do you? People say they want to have the faith of Abraham or the power of Moses or the wisdom of Solomon. But Enoch? I love what Genesis 5:22-24 says about him: “Enoch lived another 300 years in close fellowship with God …. He enjoyed a close relationship with God throughout his life. Then suddenly, he disappeared because God took him” (NLT).

No, I don’t want to live another 300 years! And it’s not at all necessary to just disappear without dying, unless it’s the rapture, of course. But I do want to simply live in close fellowship with God throughout what’s left of my life, and then for God to take me when he’s ready.

Enoch had a heart for God, and small group leadership starts with your heart. It starts with your relationship with God—seeking after him.

The previous paragraphs are adapted from my book, I'm a Leader ... Now What? I'm currently blogging about the Second Vital Sign of a Healthy Small Group: a healthy, growing small group leader. I believe in this foundational principle so much I write about it often! I've written about it in Leading from the Heart and briefly in The Pocket Guide of Burnout-Free Small Group Leadership. I'll continue to emphasize this until God takes me. 

If you want to lead successfully, Jesus must first lead you!

The Leader's Heart: 2nd Sign of a Healthy Group

The most vital mark of kingdom leadership is a leader's relationship with God. And that's the second sign of a healthy small group: a healthy growing leader.


The apostle Paul prayed for his Ephesian friends that "Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love." (Ephesians 3:17, NLT). While I pray that prayer regularly for the Life Group leaders at Northeast Christian Church, I think it's OK to pray it for myself as well. So, Father, I pray ...

• that Christ will be more and more at home in my heart ... so I am living the superabundant life he came to give me -- life that is naturally overflowing out of me to others;
• that I may stay connected to the Vine daily (John 15:5), abiding in him so that I can bear much fruit for you, fruit that will last,
• that, as Christ becomes more and more at home in my heart, others around me may follow my example ... but only as I follow the example of your son,
• that my roots keep growing, deeper and deeper into your awesome, abundant, undeserved, undeniable love,
• and, as a result (fruit), that Christ will also be more and more at home in the hearts of my family, my friends, my neighbors, and our small group members -- as they trust in you as I do.

Yes, the first sign of a healthy group is that it is Christ-centered, but that will only happen if he is first at the center of the leader's life--at home in his or her heart. ("The 'heart' in the Bible always refers to the center of a person's emotions and will."  —Life Application Bible Commentary)

May Jesus be at home in your heart, leader. This is more than a surface-level relationship. It is very intimate. This is more than just occasional. It's constant. It's why Paul encouraged us to pray "continuously."

Nothing is more important than this. If Jesus is at the center of the leader's heart and at the center of the group, the group you have been entrusted with will be on its way to health, strength, growth, and vitality.

So how's your heart? Or, better yet, who's at home there?