Return

“Find like-hearted kings living in the same direction. Sign treaties. When they're at war, you’re at war.”    

Dan Allender

I was introducing a client (who has become a very good friend) to a ministry leader.  It was a beautiful collision of gifting and ability with hope and desire.  The three of us were powerfully aligned in many ways.

It is what I imagine a war council must feel like. 

Leaning in.  Map on table.  Our territory was a generation of young people being overwhelmed by a cultural post-Christian tide and some like-hearted kings shoring up their battle plans to re-take some ground.

You might think I am making a bigger deal of a simple breakfast conversation than the situation warrants, but I would argue against that idea. 

In the heavens a far greater battle is underway…the hearts of God’s most precious are at stake. 

We were simply agreeing with and joining the larger story of what is ongoing.

But the most interesting thing about the breakfast for me was something even more beautiful than all of that.  As I was introducing these strangers to one another, my eyes teared and throat tightened.  The one I barely know is a really good hearted man fighting for the hearts of young men and women on the most treacherous of battlefields, an American college campus.

The other is a leader of the most rare a variety…a person who truly walks with God.  That is a rare thing for anyone, but for a successful business leader to walk with God in all things is approaching the territory of endangered species.  Watching him over the last 7 or so years has been one of the most beautiful and disruptive things I have ever experienced.

I am a logician.  

A process oriented person.  

An A+B=C guy.

Watching someone faithfully move this way and that…outside the bounds of logic or conventional thought…is unnerving. 

And it is glorious. 

While some would say that he “marches to the beat of a different drummer," I would say that he simply doesn’t move outside the whisper of a still small voice.

He doesn’t merely line up his actions against a static set of do’s, don’ts, tips, and techniques; he tries to lay each step in the path of his Father’s command. 

Ask.  

Listen.  

Act.  

Repeat.

“We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

My life is more liberated because of his.  While he is a successful business man who produces fabulous returns on investments, the thing I realized during our breakfast is that this isn’t his true objective.  He is working toward a KROI, a return on investment for the Kingdom.  

I aspire to be that kind of like-hearted king.  I want to sign treaties with that kind of man and go to war.

• Who is counseling your biggest decisions?
• Are you marking each step the same way?
• What territory are you fighting for?
• Have you surrounded yourself with like-hearted kings and queens that are hastening you to war?

Selfish

“Are you a born writer? Were you put on earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the end the question can only be answered by action….
Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got.”

Steven Pressfield

It is around 5 AM on a Saturday morning.  When I first checked the clock it had a 4 handle.  Experience tells me that trying to find my way back into some state of slumber is futile.  My head is spinning. 

There was a season when my mind didn’t rest as a result of the usual things:

• Will my marriage make it?
• How badly have I screwed up the raising of my kids?
• Will I ever really be able to retire?  Am I really supposed to?
• Should I be doing something else with my life?

Those aren’t the things that tend to waken me anymore.  It is more about thoughts, ideas, concepts, hopes, and my deepest desires.  I check my Starbucks app to makes sure I can land somewhere that will actually receive me at this time of day and head out into the darkness.

There are explanations for all of this:

• I discovered life through thousands of books as a kid.
• I found dozens of vicarious family experiences from the folks on the TV that raised me.  (My first trip to Hawaii was as the 7th Brady kid.)
• My StrengthsFinder tells me that I possess “Ideation” (Fascinated by ideas and more able than most to connect disparate thoughts, ideas, and concepts to make them more easily understandable).
• My DISC says that I am a natural “I: Influential” - (Creative problem solver, great encourager and motivator of others.  Someone who doesn’t mind being the center of attention).
• But our enemy also whispers that I have too much to say and that I just need to shut up and keep my opinions to myself.

Several of my closest friends and I were enjoying some nachos and drinks during our weekly gathering when one of them asked me about what these posts meant to me.  I told them it was something that I couldn’t not do, that it gave me great joy, often felt effortless, sometimes produced really nice feedback, but often felt selfish or indulgent.

It is as if an amateur guitar player, who simply loves to play, set up stools twice a week in a public place and actually had people gather.  And they came and spent their precious time, actually seeming to enjoy themselves.  And they further stated that they felt more clear, focused, or inspired by the experience.

Despite all of that, it is the artist that would be most blessed… even honored and humbled by the process.

This morning my eyes are blurry, but not with lack of sleep.  I am overwhelmed with a sense of humility, honor, and privilege.  Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you.  It means more to me than you can know and I can’t imagine functioning without it.

• What is the thing that brings you the greatest joy?  The thing that you most feel God’s pleasure when you do it?
• What is the thing that other people note about you that is special or different?
• What can you uniquely offer that might enhance the quality of other’s lives?  (Our LifePlan process is where I powerfully started understanding that.)
• If you enjoy reading this blog, would you mind sharing it with a few folks?  (That would mean a great deal to me.)

IKIGAI

Ikigai (生き甲斐, pronounced [ikiɡai])

A Japanese concept meaning "a reason for being."  Everyone, according to the Japanese, has an ikigai.  Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self.  Such a search is regarded as being very important, since it is believed that discovery of one's ikigai brings satisfaction and meaning to life. 

Your ikigai is found at the intersection of…

• The things you love
• The things you are good at
• The things others will pay you to do
• What the world needs

It is at the crossroads of…

• Passion
• Profession
• Vocation
• Mission

In the simplest terms, it is your reason for being; the thing that gets you up in the morning.  There might be other nuances to this expression that don’t line up with my Christian ideology, but it seems to point toward the answer to the fundamental question that haunts all of us:

Why do I exist?

Scripture tells how we are uniquely created and wonderfully made.  C.S. Lewis points out that each one of us uniquely offers one particular aspect of the Divine that no one else can.  We are told that we are the crown of His creation and were placed here specifically to rule and subdue all that exists.  Clearly we are here for a particular reason.

“Don’t ask what the world needs, rather, ask what makes your heart come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is men whose hearts have come alive.”

— William H. Macy

If it is the “beautiful collision” of the world’s great need, your passion and desire, and the unique purpose of our creation (the way God’s glory will be most powerfully proclaimed), we shouldn’t be surprised by how opposed it seems:

• It is exhausting, exhilarating, draining, and invigorating, all at the same time.
• It sometimes seems incredibly difficult and yet you can’t imagine doing anything else with your life.
• It paradoxically is both the hardest and easiest thing to do.

We’ve also learned that clarity about your life leads to clarity for your families, organizations, and companies.  And elusive as it might seem, we know hundreds of people who are experiencing the clarity, momentum, and freedom of knowing who they are and why they exist.  

It doesn’t always work out this way, but we would always prefer that a business owner or senior leader go through the LifePlan process and be really clear about the purpose for their lives, before we start working with their teams.  

The organizations you lead and the roles you play there, should support and fulfill the purpose for your life, not the other way around.  More often than not, we see leaders completely unaware of their calling or purpose other than what their vocational role might dictate.

It is our contention that you are not only created for a particular purpose, but that your Creator desperately wants you to know what it is.  The clues are written on your heart, have been evident throughout your life, and are fully embodied in the things that bring you greatest joy, deepest pain, and get you out of bed in the morning.

• Are you ready to live with more momentum, power, and clarity?
• Are you ready to understand more about the role you were created to play?
• Spend some time looking into our LifePlan experience and follow the stirring of your heart about whether or not to attend.