Tag: Erwin Mcmanus

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Dead End Dreams

dead-end-signI believe that whatever we are passionate about, we will dream about. Monday, we discussed how we not only have seasons of dreaming, but at some point we have to act on those dreams. You can check it out HERE. I just started reading Wide Awake by Erwin McManus. My family got it for me for Father’s Day, but I’m just now getting around to reading it. In the book, he says this:

Sometimes what should be a dream inspiring us is actually a fantasy distracting us. Say for instance , if you’re waiting to be abducted by aliens from outer space and have been giving your whole life to this dream, it’s probably safe to say this is not a life well spent.

Have you ever met someone who was pursuing the wrong dream? You know, it’s the “American Idol” syndrome. You are so sure of your talent and are waiting to be discovered, but even your friends don’t like to hear you sing. You might want to ask yourself, Is this a dream or just a fantasy?

There are churches all over this country who have pastors with big dreams and big ideas. They talk big too. In fact, they have no problem inspiring others to believe in that dream. However, when it comes down to implementing their dream, they lack the talent. George Barna points out in his book, The Second Coming of the Church, that while most pastors may have a gift of communicating, many of them lack leadership gifts and ability. Their lack of delegation and their lack of knowledge when it comes to implementation kills the church, or at least keeps it stagnant. They build up the hope of the people in the church, but those same hopeful people get discouraged when the big dreams turn into just that, a big dream.

Dreaming and reality is a thin line. There are stories all throughout the Bible where God used the least talented people (at least though human eyes) to fulfill a big dream. For some of us, we may posses talents we are unaware of, but unless we are willing to experiment and develop, we may just miss out on a dream God is giving us.

I can dream all day long of painting beautiful art like Michelangelo did in the Sistine Chapel, but I lack the talent, therefore it is a fantasy. I can dream all day long of becoming a rock star, but I lack the talent, another fantasy. God will not give a person a dream that he does not accompany the talent  to fulfill that dream with, or in some situations (like Nehemiah) the people to help bring the dream to reality. If you are dreaming about something that you know you lack the talent on, it may be good to evaluate whether or not its a dream or a fantasy. If you are sitting paralyzed on the sidelines because you’ve chased one too many fantasies, it may be time to get back in the game and ask God to let you dream again. Just because a dream turned into a fantasy does not mean you should give up, it just means you are wiser!

Erwin goes on to say…

When your dreams are aligned with your talent, you are postured to not only dream big, but live big…The bigger people dream, the bigger they tend to live.

Join the Conversation…What keeps you or has kept you from Dreaming Big? Have you ever been discouraged by following fantasies?

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Overcoming Obstacles in Leadership

I love this portion of John Maxwell’s, Developing the Leader Within You.

“A wise philosopher once commented that an eagle’s only obstacle to overcome for flying with greater speed and ease is the air. Yet, if the air were withdrawn, and the proud bird were to fly in a vacuum, it would fall instantly to the ground, unable to fly at all. The very element that offers resistance to flying is at the same time the condition for flight.”

I can’t tell you how many times as a leader I have thought or communicated the idea that if a specific obstacle was not standing in our way, we would be able to accomplish much more than we were able to in that moment. However, looking back on those times, I now see that without those obstacles or problems, we would have never achieved what we achieved. Erwin McManus shares that it is the very lack of resources that forces us as leaders to be more creative in achieving our goals…but many times people look at obstacles as God “shutting a door” or “God not providing.” So instead of mobilizing and moving forward towards our goal, we back down and sit paralyzed staring at the obstacle that we allowed to stand in our way. I immediately think about Joshua and the Wall of Jericho. Joshua knew what God had called him to but he had the choice to obey or to be paralyzed, we all know based on the Biblical account, he did not allow the obstacle to stand in the way. Here is what Maxwell goes on to say…

“Many of the Psalms were born in difficulty. “Most of the Epistles were written in prisons. Most of the greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers of all time had to pass through the fire. Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress from jail. Florence Nightingale, too ill to move from her bed, reorganized hospitals of England…Bury a person in snows of Valley Forge, and you have a George Washington. Raise him in abject poverty, and you have an Abraham Lincoln. Strike him down with infantile paralysis, and he becomes a Franklin D. Roosevelt. Burn him so severely that the doctors say he will never walk again, and you have Glenn Cunningham, who set the world’s one-mile record in 1934. Have him or her born black in a society filled with racial discrimination, and you have Washington Carver, or a Martin Luther King, Jr. Call him a slow learner and retarded-writing him off as uneducable, and you have an Albert Einstein.”

So what obstacle are you allowing to be an excuse to be paralyzed as a leader? Finances, Space, Volunteers, Lack of Knowledge/Wisdom, Lack of Skill??? Sometimes the very thing we think is holding us back is the very thing that propels us forward! (By the way, if you have influence you are a leader – Christian, Business owner, parent, spouse, employer, teacher, we are all leaders in some way).

Join the Conversation: What obstacles as a leader are you facing? Is it paralyzing you or is is propelling you forward to be more effective?

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Chasing Daylight Chapter 6 Thoughts (Part 2)

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Here are my final thoughts on Chapter 6 (Advance) of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus. Join the Conversation at the end if anything stands out to you…

  • What is it about our conversations with God that we seem to hear the no more readily than the yes? Many times when we claim we are waiting on God, He is waiting on us.
  • You are called not to be a survivor, but to be a conqueror. With passion and anticipation, you move with determination into the eye of the hurricane.
  • I don’t know what it means for others, but for followers of Jesus Christ, what it means to live on the edge is to stand at the epicenter of where the kingdom of God confronts the kingdom of darkness.
  • On this journey one thing becomes certain: When you move forward on what you know, things become clearer. When you refuse to act on what you know, all that you do not know paralyzes you.
  • When we become a people of the Spirit, we join the wind of God as He moves through human history.
  • Those who seize their divine opportunities move with the God-given yes unless God says no. They work from the go and wait for the stop. They understand that the mission gives them permission. They know that the danger is their invitation to step up to the challenge. Continue reading “Chasing Daylight Chapter 6 Thoughts (Part 2)”
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Chasing Daylight Chapter 6 Thoughts (Part 1)

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Here are some quotes and thoughts that stood out to me from Chapter 6 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus. Join the conversation at the end if anything sticks out to you…

  • When God’s calling and promises are made clear to us, our response will shape how the journey plays out.
  • God will give us victory in the battle, but He will not fight the battle for us.
  • When you’re moving with God, you must move with an advance mentality. You move forward unless God tells you to stop. You advance unless God tells you to wait. There are certain things that you do not need permission to do. You’ve already been commissioned to do them. There are certain things that you do not need a calling to do. You’ve already been commanded to do them.
  • Much of our religious language has been focused on the don’ts rather than the do’s. In the same way we act as if the primary word from God is Stop when it actually is Go.
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Chasing Daylight Chapter 5 Thoughts (Part 2)

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Here are some of the things that stood out to me from Chapter 5 of Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus:

  • The journey that travels through divine moments is not an escape route from personal suffering. In fact, it strengthens our resolve to suffer in the now for the greater good that can be accomplished. It is a recognition that future moments are both born out of and connected to present choices.
  • If it is difficult to fail without risk, it is even more difficult to succeed without failure.
  • You do yourself a disservice when every story has a happy ending in this life. Its far more important that there be a meaningful middle. So often we’re paralyzed in our fear to do the wrong thing, and it is important to always move forward with all the wisdom possible.
  • It is as if we long to know God’s Will, but God refuses to reveal it.