Instruments of Provision

I am not the provider for my family. I am not the provider for my family. I am not the provider for my family. I have to keep repeating that to myself from time to time as a reminder that all – ALL – provision comes from the Lord. It’s a lesson that has taught me to rely on God for my daily bread, regardless of where my income comes from. I can be an instrument of provision, but the provision is the Lord’s alone.

Having said that, I’m asking you to be an instrument of provision for someone – TODAY – who needs our help.

An Urgent Need
This morning, I received an email with a humble but urgent plea from a very Godly husband and father; a man who 28 months ago lost a baby boy to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). They are financially devastated and are asking for help.

Having gone through a financial devastation myself, I know exactly what this man feels like. The difference is that he had the guts to post his need online so that the body of Christ could be a blessing to him and his family.

$10 – We All Have $10
Since our financial whirlwind, we’ve come out on the other side rebuilding and are now faithful to a new budget that represents our diligence to fully recover and honor God with our stewardship of finances. Yet, even with our tight budget and commitment to being debt-free, we can give a little to help this family.

He’s asking for each of us to send whatever we can to SIDSAMERICA.org as a support for them and their ministry. $10 bucks is something everyone I know personally can donate to this family. If you can do more, that’s great, too.

I’m reminded of the story of the widow in 1 Kings, chapter 17, who gave the last of her oil and flour to Elijah. From her obedience and generous spirit, the Lord kept the oil and flour from running out for THREE YEARS! I’m also reminded of the woman in Mark, chapter 12, who gave 2 mites – a very small offering – but who Jesus said gave more than the many who were rich had given.

Will you be an instrument of provision and bless this family today? I’ve never asked for any of you to support anything before, so I believe you will see the opportunity to serve another member of the body in a tangible way.

To donate to this family who has been generous and responsible stewards, please go to SIDSAMERICA.ORG.

I’ve made his entire email plea available so you can read for yourself the integrity and heart of this Godly man who is calling upon the body – the “Big C” Church – to help them in a time of need, if you so desire. Just click the “more” link below.

- Anthony

(more…)

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Mentor & Friend

Recently I saw a tweet from pastor Randy Cochran that asked: “Who is the mentor that has had the most influence on your life?” A name immediately popped up into my head, but I decided to think about it and weigh the first thought against my many memories of people who have mentored me throughout the years. At the end of my pondering, I realized that my first reaction was not only correct, it was immensely justified.

I can’t explain it any other way: The favor of God has been upon me in unique ways, one of which is in the quality of my network of friends, associates and colleagues. I remember being a 23 year-old kid teaching at my first conference. I had no business being there teaching, but I was someone leading in media ministry at the time and that was seemingly enough. I’ve since taught for 16 years straight at various conferences. Along the way I have had the privilege of meeting some incredible people. A few of them have mentored me and I am grateful for those men who have held that position in my life. Yet it’s only been in the last three years that I’ve been mentored in the most influential and profound way by one man: pastor Marcus Brecheen.

I met Marcus because I wanted and needed someone to help me in my marriage. On that first day, along with my bride, I with him at the Gateway church offices, listening as he spoke kindly and accurately over, about and to us. 90 minutes later, I left there determined to get to know this man of God who had so hammered me with a gentle mallet. Oh, I’ve been to some good counselors and have met many a solid pastor throughout the years, but Marcus was different.

Over the next few weeks and months, Marcus came to know everything about me – everything, including my most significant failures, my biases, my issues and, perhaps most importantly, my heart that desired to be free from the yoke of condemnation. But what started out as marriage counseling parlayed into a series of insightful, tough and riveting questions that have altered the path of my life. So that you know I’m not exaggerating, here are just a few “Marcus-isms” that have rocked my world:

“You can be right and still lose your marriage.”

This one set me back and has continually shaped me as a Christ-follower and husband.

“Jesus died first and exampled that we, too, must die to ourselves.”

I almost don’t like this one! But I’ve had to come back to it again and again (and again).

“Ephesians 5 says to wash your bride with the Word, not to beat her over the head with it when she’s wrong.”

When I first met with him, my intellect was in the right place, but my heart was in another. He never cut me any slack and has been a master carpenter shoring up the foundations of my marriage for the building that God has done since that first meeting.

Marcus: “I didn’t have time for ‘social media’.” Me: “But you’re using it now. What changed?” Marcus: “I love people. I want to meet people wherever they’re at.”

Marcus is not only a great teacher, he’s an excellent student. When I presented to the executive staff at Gateway Church about the need to embrace social media fully, he respected my opinion but saw social media as another distraction. Over time, God revealed to him the truth and passion that you see in that above snippet during a recent conversation I had with him.

We’ve transitioned our relationship over the last three years. He’s gone from counselor to pastor to friend, though he’ll always be a mentor. Recently, we were able to talk about multi-site church and the ramifications it has on the culture of each campus. Through our dialogue, we found common ground in the need for the Word to be delivered seamlessly and for each campus to have a duality of being a part of the same church body, but unique to each community.

Not many people have the ability, position or relationship (let alone all three) to shape a person’s life. Yet I’ve been blessed by a man who has done all three and added in a fourth, essential ingredient: time. In the many, many lunches, meetings, coffees and discussions I’ve had with him, I’ve not only learned about me, I’ve learned about him. He’s a flawed guy who’s living in grace and entering the throne room of God’s presence with a lifestyle of worship with consistency, passion and humility.

I have the privilege to ‘do life’ with this mighty man of God, this friend, this mentor named Marcus Brecheen.

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Processing Change, Paradigm-Shifting & Innovation Mapping

I thought I’d lost my voice. I’d sit in front of my laptop and stare at the blank white page with the blinking cursor. Nothing. After much prayer and many moons without a new blog that got me excited, I asked God to show me why I lacked the inspiration. What He revealed was not what I expected, nor at a place I would have thought could reveal the answer.

I recently attended the Echo conference, which is really a cool, hip conference for designers, creatives and communicators from the church world. My friends Rob Thomas and Jeff Parker have created something special with Echo and it showed with the incredibly talented, and mostly young people speaking and attending the conference. As I write this, I’m 39. That’s not “old” unless it’s in relation to 20-something creatives that saturated the Echo conference. After two days of watching young, passionate, burgeoning leaders teach and share, I realized I was no longer tethered to this kind of conference. Since my own 20-something age (23), I’ve spent the majority of those years teaching at conferences that drew the kinds of crowds that Echo has attracted. Yet God spoke clearly to me at Echo and severed the tether of my desire to be a part of that space as a leader.

What I’ve learned is that God needed me to set aside my past experiences and “career” and start with a fresh, blank page. Instead of blogging about the things that used to consume my work, He’s breathing into me a whole new book, not just a new chapter. Some of the things that I was exploring have matured and are now ready to go to the next level, but the audio/video/lighting techie-focus has been put away.

Replacing the years of consulting and technical writing is a new heart bursting with new ways of thinking about processing change, paradigm-shifting and innovation mapping.

For this new season of life, I’m called to serve an old friend and mentor, Jeff Hook, at Fellowship Technologies. For those unaware of this company, Fellowship Technologies is the company that launched Fellowship One, which is a web-based church management software solution for churches. In my current role as Director of Communications, I’m working with a talented team of people that are redefining the way this fast-growing company is affecting the church marketplace. As anyone who knows me can attest, I’m a guy who lives for communicating vision, telling compelling stories and motivating real, tangible change.

My new writing voice is focused on three things: processing change, paradigm-shifting and innovation mapping. I don’t think those are three real titles, but they do articulate a maturing of the things I’ve been saying for a while in the midst of my tech articles and blog posts. In essence, I desire to be a catalyst and instructor in helping churches rethink and even re-answer the most important question of all: “Why?”

For example, while most churches are trying to get up to speed on social media by jumping head-first into Facebook and maybe Twitter, I’m helping to refocus efforts on first evaluating the “what” churches are doing and asking them to stop and ask the simple question “Why are we doing (insert ministry/activity/thing here)?” Again. And again. Across the board, from weekend services to each department to all of the ministries throughout the church, it’s not safe to assume; it’s time to re-align to the unique God-given vision of each local church.

I feel that my work at Fellowship Technologies as an innovator in a team of thought leaders is a great place for me to exercise this new voice. It’s also allowing me to refine my messaging and blog about things well outside of the company I work for, all while being faithful to that which I know I’m called to do: serve church leaders.

When I sit in front of the blinking cursor today, I no longer see a blank screen – I see a new chapter and a canvas upon which I can creatively share my passion. I have once again found my voice.

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