ScottFentonBlog

Leadership thoughts, truths, moments and or even lessons come to me from many different sources. Sometimes a conference, maybe a conversation with a trusted friend, a good book, times of prayer or Bible study and often from a total stranger! While at the Lake with my family the other day, it was one of those “stranger moments” that just pierced my heart. We noticed about three middle age men putting on wet suits and preparing for a swim across the lake, my wife asked them if they were training for a Triathlon? they said, ” Nope, we are just training for life”.

I thought as a leader, how often I find my self just training for ‘an event’, you know the next teaching series, speaking engagements, big event, mission trip etc…. not that planning for these good things is not necessary, but they are not the end, only a means to a much bigger picture. That picture for me, is my life, the influence and impact that I have on people that I come in contact with. The ‘wake’ that my life leaves behind is not really determined by the “Big Splashes” that I may have the fortune to make, but rather the consistent and straight course of my life. That I might put the real work into the things that you can not always see, things like integrity, character, pure motives, this will provide the “training for life” that will make me the kind of  leader that leads not just with the urgency of the moment, but with a vision for tomorrow as well!

Training with you!

Often times I have wondered if the words Pastor and Conference are synonymous…to be sure I have been to my share of them over the past 2o years! As I was organizing my home office the other day I came across an old file filled with notes of great speakers, multiple ideas and strategies, fancy handouts, touch cards, scribbled ideas and a new vision to conquer the world on a napkin! Now to be sure much of what I ‘received’ at those many conferences has not translated into immediate or tangible success. But as I reflected on all of those conference I was flooded with the memories of two prominent events that were ultimately the real ‘take home’ for me….the first event was something that God did ‘in’ me and the second event was always at least one ‘divine conversation’ with a old or new friend….not that the notes and information have not been helpful, but it is only these two events that have truly been memorable and that have brought  true life change!

I just returned from a Leadership Conference over the weekend in Yakima, Wa. called Summit. There were the usual great line up of speakers and interactives, but once again God met me during a worship service, renewing my passion and vision for what He has called me to be and to do! and then there was also that divine conversation with a dear friend that lasted into the early hours of the morning, but it was a conversation that I believe will greatly impact and shape both of our lives and ministries!

So I will continue to make Leadership and Ministry conferences a priority, because there will always be that beautiful ‘take home’ event that will shape our character, strengthen our resolve, and steer our vision! these events may not always occur on the conference schedule, but if you really look for the true ‘take home’ you will find it!

Was in deep thought the other day as I was stuck in a little Lynnwood traffic…..I was thinking about the growth cycle in my faith journey with Christ. Perhaps for you it has been a smooth ride with few if any ‘bumps’ along the way, but for me that has not been the case! As I looked back a little bit though I begin to see a bit of a pattern if you will, not that I have perfected this by any means, but as I wrote down the ’sequence of events’ in my relationship with Christ it brought me some comfort. I see these events in my life not as an end to themselves, but rather a continual and cyclical process that is constantly defining and refining my heart, faith and mission in life!

Event #1 To Know Him, Is To Love Him…this really is the heart of God, to make Himself known to us! And as I am brought into a place of ‘knowing Him’ I find myself Loving Him. Paul prays for the church in Ephesians 1:17, ‘that God would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better’… I have found that the seasons in my life that I have been a student of His word, and a man of genuine prayer that I have grown in my love for Christ…For me the more I know about God, the more I love Him. I am not talking just about head knowledge, or some philosophical position, I am referring to knowledge of the heart, grace, power, and love of God.

Event#2 To Love Him, is to be Like Him.…The beautiful truth of God’s Grace for us is that is truly free! And the fact that we can enter in to a ‘love relationship’ with Christ is also gift that comes to us with no strings attached. Now to become like Him, well that will cost you everything you have and are! But if we are to truly love Him, we must become like Him. Now for some this may come as a bit of ‘bait and switch’, but really it is an opportunity to be completely free of this worlds hold on you! Jesus said, ‘If you love me, you will obey me’; this same Jesus promises us victory over death, abundant life, peace in the storms and forgiveness of sins! The cost of following Christ may seem quite high, but when you measure it against how much you are in love with Him, it reveals it’s true worth…..

Event #3 To be Like Him, Is to Serve With Him...As we watch the story unfold in the Gospels, we see Jesus revealing Himself to mankind(Knowing Him),providing access to a love relationship(Loving Him), calling us to life change(Christ likeness) and the sequence of events now leads us to the end? Or perhaps just back to the beginning! Either way Christ invites us to be on mission with Him! I believe we are never more like Christ than when we serve people. Just as Christ invited His disciples to ‘come and follow me’ He calls us today to a life of mission! If you find yourself in a place of confusion or discouragement today please consider that maybe all you need is to revisit your own ’sequence of events’, perhaps like me at times, you will discover that you have ’stalled’ somewhere along the line. Take courage, God has not given up on you; as a matter of fact He is powerfully committed to you!

Acts 4:13

¹³When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

We all make observations about people right? I mean we quickly ’size’ people up, based on appearance, intellect, economic status, educational background…on and on it goes. Often lost in the shuffle is the presence of courage! How clearly we see this play out in the lives of Peter and John when the first thing that was really observable about their lives if you will, was not their qualifications, but rather their courage! To be sure the qualified person seems to be a safe bet, I mean there is a certainty to them, but the leader with courage? Well they tend to make us nervous! Now I am not saying that being ‘qualified’ is a bad thing, far from it; however it can never be the only thing. God has never seemed overly impressed with our qualifications in the first place, but after we as leaders have come in contact with Jesus we leave changed, not so much in our own giftedness, but with a heart of courage! It says of Peter and John that ‘they took note that these men had been with Jesus’….In a culture that is in love with ‘the best and the brightest’, what might happen if it began to take notice of a new brand of ‘courage’ the type of courage that does not come because of one’s own qualifications, but because some ‘ordinary and unschooled’ person came into direct contact with Jesus?