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Random thoughts

I landed back in OKC late last night from a few day trip to the cold, windy city of Chicago. As I shared I had been in class for 3 days and hanging out with some friends from the ECC. The past 2 weeks have been a whirlwind in my life that has left my head spinning. While there are a lot of random thoughts rushing through my head, I'm not sure where to start.

Here are a few of the thoughts:

• I walked through our East Norman campus this morning and am absolutely pumped about what God is doing! It reminds me of starting Journey 6 years ago. You can sense the excitement and anticipation about what God is doing!
• I love my family! I was supposed to be in Chicago through tomorrow and came home 2 days early. I have been fighting a cold for a couple of weeks now and wanted to rest before the weekend, but I also wanted to see my family. The way things have worked out I haven't seen much of them the past 3 weeks and I was ready!
• This weekend we're going to answer some questions about suffering as we continue our series U Asked for It. I am pumped about what God wants to do in the hearts of people as we study His word together. Next week we're going to answer some questions about the supernatural.
• Our next series is called "Mapquest: Gaining Direction for Your Life." There have been so many people talking to me lately about how they are searching for their personal life vision that I took it as God speaking to me. It is so important to have a personal mission statement for your life to give you direction. You will have one soon!

So there are a few of my thoughts. Go reach some people with the love of Christ this week and trust God to change their lives! He will use you!

P.S. Congratulations to my friends David and Amy on the birth of their new baby boy! His name is Holland Clark Little - I could be missing it on the Clark part, but it all seems to flow together pretty well.

Learning from an 11-year-old

Last night I was talking to Robin on the phone and she said that Caleb needed to talk to me about something. At first I was a little concerned that he was in trouble with mom, but then I was blown away by what he wanted to talk about.

Caleb is 11 and plays on a competitive soccer team. He plays on the B team most of the time (which saves me lots of money), but recently he has been playing some with the A team and traveling. On the A team he is just another player, on the B team he is the captain of the team.

At last night's B team practice his fellow teammates weren't quite as focused as the coach would have liked, so Matt asked Caleb what he was going to do to get his team focused. Wow! Matt, who is an incredible coach, really was giving Caleb the opportunity to develop and mature as a leader.

So the phone call - Caleb was asking for some ways to help lead his fellow teammates and was concerned about his own development as a player if the rest of his team didn't care. Wow! Am I talking to my 11 year old?

There are a couple of questions we all can answer when it comes to Caleb's situation. First, what do we do to spur others on that are on our team but not playing to their potential? Second, how are those on our team that aren't as committed ultimately affecting our development? How do we respond to those people in a Christ-like manner, yet continue to aggressively move forward in what God has called us to do?

The ECC

Well, this morning starts day two of classes for me. I am hanging out with other pastors who have chosen to affiliate with the ECC. The class I am taking is strongly encouraged (required) for all the pastors that associate with them.

Here are the highpoints thus far:

• I'm not a pastor in a village of 350 in Alaska! Man, I respect that dude. Good news is they got TV 5 years ago. ( If that is good.)
• I'm surrounded by people who are giving their lives to further God's mission on earth. These folks love God and love people.
• I learned in four words what the Covenant is all about: It is Biblical, devotional, missional, and connectional.
• That's it! That is the focus of the larger group of people we choose to affiliate with as a church.

I'm off before I'm tardy. More from "Clark's time in Class" in the coming days.

East Norman Campus

Wow! Can you believe it? God has opened a huge door and we now have 2 campuses. The past several weeks life has been a whirlwind as God has orchestrated the next step for Journey. As I shared with everyone yesterday it was a blast to watch people's reaction to what God has done. I am so blown away by what God is doing in you!

Why a second campus? Great question. In our county 77% of the population are still unchurched! There are thousands of people in our community, that God loves with all of His heart, that need to be influenced with the grace of Christ. Not only that, there is a group of people that live in East Norman that didn't make the move with us for whatever reason. We believe God still wants us to care for those people and help them stay connected to the local church.

Our first Core group meeting for the new campus will be coming up soon! Shoot us an email or contact our office if you want to be involved. God really can do anything!

Pray for me this week, I'll be in the classroom for 5 days this week taking a seminary course. I'm not the best at sitting in class!

Have a great week!

Walls - Part Five

The Vision Wall

Many people in our world today probably don't even realize they have been stopped by the vision wall. They have settled for a life of mediocrity and have settled for average being the norm. Others will run up against the wall and wonder around for a little while trying to figure things out, but will eventually give in to the norm.

How Satan uses this wall in our lives is to get us to set our eyes on survival. He puts so many walls in our lives to run into that his ultimate goal is for our vision just to be to make it through the day. I know so many people that live like this. I will ask, "What is your vision?" and they answer, "just to survive."

Survival can mean a lot of things. It can mean literally just living through another day, or making the house payment one more month, or "just doing my best to stay on top of things." God didn't create us for survival, He created us to thrive. Remember John 10:10 where Jesus says that He came to give life in abundance.

Everyday we wake up with the opportunity to live that life! Yes, there are plenty of distractions, or walls, that will rob us of our God given vision, but ultimately the choice is ours. God's vision for our lives is so big! It revolves around 2 things: Loving Him and Loving others. Then from that foundation He has a very specific plan for your personal life.

What is the vision that you are living for? Without vision people perish.

Don't miss this weekend as I share what God has done to help us pursue our future! It is going to be huge!

Walls - Part Four

Relational Walls

Relationships are one of the hardest areas of life to navigate. They can be a huge blessing, but they can also produce huge challenges. If we do not have some barometers to gauge our relationships by they can dominate our lives and rob us of many of the things that God wants for our lives.

Over the years I have learned that if I don't have some protective habits in place the emotion of relationships can zap me of every bit of spiritual and emotional energy I have. Let me make it very clear this has been difficult for me to deal with because at some points I unintentionally hurt others as I protect myself and my family. At first I really struggled with guilt and then I started walking in God's grace.

I was walking through a really difficult situation a couple of years ago and was consumed with guilt. I could not shake the feeling that the decision I was making was the right one, but I could not shake the guilt of hurting someone. One day in conversation with one of my mentors he asked me my name. I said, "You know my name", but he wanted me to say it anyway. After I stated my name he asked a question that was simple, but life changing - Did you hear the name God in your name anywhere? The answer was simple. He went on to help me understand that often times people place their dependence on a person, not God.

God wants to prosper your relationships, but to do so He alone has to be God. While He can, and will, use you to help others you can't carry the guilt of not being able to do everything for everybody. Sometimes you simply have to say - no.

I have learned to become very protective of my time with my family and my priorities at work. It has been hard for me being a relational-type person, but it has improved my family life and ministry life in huge ways.

What are the relational walls you need to work through? Your top priorities are your relationships with God and with your wife and kids! Don't let anything or anybody rob you of those relationships.

Walls - Part Three

Physical Walls

Physical walls will stop you right in your tracks! You can be filled with the Spirit, emotionally great, and a physical wall can kick your butt. We would all like to think that we are beyond physical challenges, but the truth is God created our bodies to need certain things and when we ignore those things it eventually catches up with us.

Things that we all need:

• REST!
• To watch what we eat!
• Exercise!
• Balance! You can run hard, but then you need to play hard and rest hard.

The reality is that most of us ignore our bodies as we run through life and then it all catches up with us. I do not want to ever forfeit the vision God has for my life due to physical walls! God has given us a gift in our bodies and when we take care of them they are a great blessing!

Walls - Part Two

Emotional Walls

One of the least expected walls that will stop is in our tracks are our emotional walls. For many people it is difficult to admit they have emotional limits because they feel that it is a sign of weakness. The enemy some how convinces us that if we are good leaders that we will be tough enough to put our emotions aside and keep plunging forward. I wish that were true.

The truth is that one of the worst things you could ever do is ignore your emotional state. Now, I did not say that your emotional state should dictate your future because it should not! But if you ignore your emotions at some point you will burn out in whatever you are pursuing.

I was there last year. There is no reason to rehash the past, but I will say that my emotional tank was empty. There was nobody to blame but myself! I was overcommitted and undernourished.

God can do much more through you when you are emotionally healthy! That takes effort! It does not just happen.

Some things to try:

• Spend time with God daily, focusing on who He is in your life.
• Evaluate your emotional status every day.
• Admit when you need help. (Most times when you need help you should go to a mentor or a counselor - I have found that our friends and family can be there for us, but they cannot fix things for us)
• Evaluate your commitments - being overcommitted will drain you emotionally.
• Know your seasons - I have 12 more days left in a crazy season that began at the first of the year. I will schedule time that next week to rest and be refreshed.
• Hang out with people who add energy to you, not drain you. If you don't balance this you will never move forward. You need to minister the love of God to people, but you can't be God to people.
• Did I mention mentors? I think I did. You need them!
• HAVE FUN!!! Go watch a funny movie or something that will make you laugh.

Those are just a few ideas on breaking through emotional walls. We all face them and it's important not to let them destroy the plan God has for our lives.

It feels great to be emotionally healthy! If you constantly struggle with being up and down seek a professional, Christian counselor.

Walls

Before I jump in, let me say, "Way to go!" Yesterday I challenged everyone to give a little extra cash to help out an orphanage in Kenya and you gave $8600! That will make a huge difference!! Thank you for being responsive!

The other thing about yesterday that blows my mind is how many people you guys are inviting! It truly is a God thing!! Every where I went yesterday there were new people checking things out and they were loving it! Thanks for creating such an incredible environment.

One of the things that we all face in life are walls. Walls can come in many shapes and sizes, but whatever they look like the enemy usually uses them to distract us from the vision that God has for our lives. Over the next few days I want to share some of the walls I have run into as a leader and what I've learned about playing through them. Walls can have great benefit if you approach them with the right attitude and you take the right actions.

SPIRITUAL WALLS

Have you ever had a season in your life when it seemed God was nowhere around? I think we all have. The key is understanding that He is around! And that when we hit a spiritual wall it affects every aspect of our lives. God wants us to prosper spiritually!

How do we play through the wall?

• Do a specific Bible study. Grab a Beth Moore study or a Robert Morris study. Go to Mardel and find something that you're passionate about and study it specifically.
• Take time to worship. Get a worship CD (this is where Kyle would want me to suggest his - which it really is good) and go somewhere quiet and worship. I used to sit out at the lake and worship for an hour. It makes a world of difference.
• In your prayer times, worship God for who He is instead of asking Him for what you need. The more you focus on Him, the more He will fill you up. I have found when I focus on who He is everything else takes care of itself.
• Find a spiritual mentor. Get with someone who will help you grow spiritually. I have one and it makes a huge difference in my life.
• Get involved with a small group!

Those are just a few thoughts. Most importantly, ask God to fill you with His spirit. God will be faithful and it will make a huge difference in your life.

I Quit - Part Five

Before we dive into the "I Quit" of the day, let me share something really important with you. DO NOT MISS CHURCH SUNDAY! I am pumped about this weekend. I have been more moved spiritually by studying for this talk than almost any other talk in my life! We'll be talking about Heaven and it is good stuff!

I QUIT BEING A WORKAHOLIC

I did not say, "I quit working hard!" I said, "I quit being a workaholic." There is a huge difference!

No matter what you do in life, if you are going to see success you have to trust God and work hard. It can be your family, your job, your hobby, etc., but if you don't work at it (make it a priority) you will not succeed.

When you are a workaholic you only work hard at work. You make your work life your main priority, putting all your emotional and physical energy into it. Being a workaholic does not necessarily honor God.

For those of you out there who think you can't ever work more than 40 hours a week and have a healthy life - you are wrong. There are seasons of life that require many hours of work. The key is to get through those seasons and then get back to balance.

Working hard honors God, but so does resting! When I take time to rest I am trusting God to keep working when I am not. That is called faith!

Things I'm doing to stay balanced:

• Identifying my "heavy workload" seasons and planning around them. I am spending a lot of time working right now at the office and at home. I know the date this crazy season ends and will take a day or two to rest.
• Resting before it get crazy! We made some decisions this week that rock, but that will require a lot of leadership and hard work. I will take some time to rest, before things get crazy for another 8 weeks or so.
• Loving on my family. I don't care how important the ministry is, it is not more important than my family. While the church deserves my best, so does my family. I make loving on them a huge priority.
• Daily quiet times!!! We have to spend time with God to stay full spiritually.

What do you need to change about your "work"? Work hard, don't be a workaholic.