So if you need to find me, I’ll be somewhere Inside Celebration.

While most would rather rely on the findings of a random Myer-Briggs test, or perhaps the glorious accomplishments of the past, I believe the quality of a leader can be best assessed by whether or not he or she is willing to park at a yellow light.

As leaders, many of us believe that it is imperative to drive the vehicles God has provided for us as fast as possible towards our intended goal. We drive under the assumption that God has given us a green light to pursue His best for the organizations we lead, and that the near presence of a stop light is something we should avoid at all cost.

However, as leaders, we are not only responsible for those that are traveling with us, but also those who are traveling behind us.

Whenever you are the pilot car within a caravan of vehicles, what looks green to you, depending on the size of your caravan, may appear yellow to others once they approach an intersection. And more often than not, what looks yellow to you, will most certainly appear red to a majority of those following you.

As leaders, parking at yellow lights provides the margin for everyone God has given us the opportunity to lead to catch up and be able to cross intersections of change together. Refusing to do so will only result in leaders having to pull their cars over to the side of the road week after week in frustration, waiting impatiently for those they are leading to catch up to where they are.

Over the past year, I have watched a number of incredible leaders drive off and leave their caravans behind. While some may have been a result of a new caravan God had given to them to lead, I can’t help but to wonder if some were due to the inability or refusal to park at yellow lights.

Leading a crowd is not the same as leading a family.

While driving our minivan throughout town, I can rest in knowing that the family God has given me the responsibility to lead will probably make every turn I take, simply because their seats are in the vehicle I am driving. Although their seats can be tossed around quite a bit if my turns are too sharp.

But when leading a crowd, we cannot assume that every turn we take will be followed as smoothly. Yellow lights are God’s way of testing our hearts towards those we lead. Instead of seeing them as our last opportunity to move ourselves forward…

…start seeing them as an opportunity to stop and move everyone you are leading forward.

Over the past few weeks, I have caught a sudden interest in basic auto repair; thanks in large part to a series of challenges we are having with our minivan. From faulty air conditioning, to blinkers that blink when they want to, it seems the list of repairs grows by the month as our minivan approaches the 200,000 mile mark.

Although (thankfully) neither appears to be something we have to do on our next checkup, I have been intrigued by the differences between wheel balancing and wheel alignment. Although commonly mistaken for each other, the effects they can have on a car are very different indeed; effects that have several leadership lesson hidden deep within.

The primary purpose of a wheel alignment is to ‘prevent uneven tire wear in order to keep a vehicle driving in a straight line.’ Whenever cars, despite the driver’s efforts to steer otherwise, are consistently ‘pulling to one side,’ it is apparent that there is a wheel alignment problem.

This problem lies not with the wheels, but rather with the angle of the camber or caster they are connected to that often needs to be addressed in order for a car to be realigned.

When it comes to the decline of an organization, or perhaps its inability to reach an intended goal, I am often amazed at how many leaders find it easier to focus their frustration on the wheels God has placed around them, rather than the angle of the camber they have set for their organization.

It has sadly become far easier to replace a flawed leader with a new one, rather than to correct the flaws of the vision they are connected to.

However, when it comes to wheel balancing, the problem often lies with an uneven distribution of mass within the tire, which is often just a result of time and extensive rotation. Once a tire becomes unbalanced, it causes the steering wheel, or perhaps an entire vehicle, to shake uncontrollably. No matter how gifted a leader can be, there will always be the need for a balance inspection.

Without providing one with the margin for personal repair and inspection, a leader can begin to just rotate from department to department, causing an entire organization to steer off course.

It’s no wonder why mechanics have such job security. Very few are willing to take the time to learn how to do their own repairs. The job is just not glamorous enough.

On this past Sunday, during our 12:30pm worship service, Celebration Church had to briefly evacuate our building due to someone accidentally pulling down the fire alarm. Thanks in large part to several great leaders who demonstrated some incredible resolve, we were able to evacuate the building and re-enter safely to continue with our service.

Once I arrived home, I couldn’t help but to remember the following post I wrote a while back entitled, In Case Of Emergency. Thought it would be great to revisit again today.

Emergencies can come in a large variety of ways.

The Conventional: Fires. Earthquakes. Tornados. Hurricanes. Floods.
The Non-Conventional: Bomb Threats. Armed Robbery. Random (School) Shootings.

For both conventional and non-conventional emergencies, every school, hotel, coffee shop, and church is required by law to have an Emergency Evacuation Plan. Based on my light research, most emergency evacuation plans consist of the following four steps:

(1) The Alert or Alarm
(2) The Exit or Escape Route
(3) The Gathering (Or Assessment) Point
(4) The Re-Entry Procedure

No matter how minuscule or extreme the emergency may be, these four steps seem to be observed at all times; some more thorough than others. However, there is one kind of emergency that many churches have not been able to implement each of these steps in as successfully. Although many have experienced it, very few have taken the time to layout a step by step strategy to address it.

The emergency I am referring to is when a Troubled Church Leader has emerged within your team.

For those who have been around one (or perhaps have been guilty of becoming one once), you know the incredible affect it can have on a church, its leadership as well as its membership. Having the ability to identify, reconcile, or even evacuate a troubled church leader through life’s emergencies, has never been more important. Believe it or not, observing the same four key steps of most Emergency Evacuation Plans could help the church navigate its troubled leaders through the toughest of times.

(1) The Alert or Alarm

Is there a person or department on your church staff who has been identified as the point of contact when a problem has emerged? What button can be pushed for leaders to express their concerns, even when it involves their peers or possibly their pastor? When the pastor cannot be as accessible as he or she may want to be, can an alert be expressed without it becoming an alarm to others?

(2) The Exit or Escape Route

Is there a step by step procedure a leader can be provided in order to bring his or her problem or challenge to a proper resolve? Is the culture in your church one that embraces a safe exit, or one that causes leaders to feel like they need to hide and run for escape?

(3) The Gathering (Or Assessment) Point

If a problem has arisen with a leader that must be resolved or disciplined, is there a gathering point or place for those leaders to go and be reassessed? Will this point be a place of safety where godly counsel and clarity can still be obtained, or rather a place to discard leaders in hope that the shame alone will bring about some correction?

(4) The Re-Entry Procedure

When the emergency has been identified and controlled, what is the re-entry procedure for a leader to observe in order to possibly re-engage with his peers or perhaps his or her previous vocation? Since it is common knowledge that in most emergencies, the elevators (quick access points) are off limits, are the steps still available? And if they are willing to take them, are they blocked or being denied?

As with any kind of emergency, not having a standard emergency plan for when troubled church leaders emerge can prove to be very costly. Discontentment is a fire that must be met with swift action, as it has the ability to often grow out of control when the right measure of wind is added to it.

Know when to evacuate. Know when to gather and reassess.
Know when to sound the alarm.

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple…I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

—Steve

Quitting effectively is something we all should learn how (and when) to do.
And to do so swiftly and with grace.

It is my prayer that something I said will help you to always Remain Confident in the ways and plans of God – wherever you are in your faith journey. Thanks in advance for watching.

Huge shout out to Pastor Joe and Lori Champion once again for the opportunity to share this ‘bridge’ with so many. Truly grateful to be a part of such a dynamic team and life-giving church.

I invite you hear this report LIVE as I speak about ‘Remaining Confident’ here at Celebration Church tonight beginning at 7pm CST/8pm EST. Honored that Pastor Joe and Lori Champion would ask me to speak in their absence, on what is the 8th Month Anniversary of my family relocating to Austin, Texas.

8 months exactly.

To watch LIVE tonight, click here!

“…I will see the GOODNESS of the Lord.”

I solicit your prayers for our EVERLASTING GOD to shine brightly during this hour.

About a year or so ago, I had the opportunity to hear Ravi Zacharias, a renown Christian apologist, speak at an event located right outside of Atlanta, Georgia. The purpose of the event was to discuss the power and influence today’s media has on popular culture. During his 30-40 minute presentation, he made this one incredible statement; one that will remain with me for quite a while:

“…without TRUTH, education is moved to the skeptical, spirituality is moved to the mystical, and art is moved to the sensual.”

Now more than ever before, we are living in an age where matters of faith and morality differ from person to person. What has long been considered true is now (in the eyes of many) debatable, while those things that we have always believed to be false or in contrast to our faith, are now being adopted and accepted as cultural norms.

This reversal of truth unfortunately exists within today’s Body of Christ as well.

As a result of our individual and collective life pursuits (money, relationships, position, etc.), many of us at times have thrown aside the principles of our faith to pursue a sense of FREEDOM that is completely void of His truth. For some odd reason, we have bought into the lie that the freedoms we want to experience in Christ as believers, can come about without certain rules and boundaries.

We have created a generation of believers who now have a longing for the mystical to occur in their life, rather than embracing the truths behind sowing and reaping. We want to gain, but refuse any pain associated with it. We want to earn, but refuse to learn what is necessary to do so.

As believers, we really have this FREEDOM thing all messed up.

Isn’t it interesting that the very first time the word “free” is mentioned in the Bible, God follows it up with a boundary for that freedom to occur:

“Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. – Genesis 2:15-17.

Here we see God from the very beginning, providing mankind with instructions on how he can flourish FREELY within the garden He provided, along with the BOUNDARIES he needed to observe in order to live and succeed. While the Bible is full of these kinds of examples, we can learn even more about how God wants us to properly balance our freedoms as believers by looking at His creation.

Take a river for example.

A river is a body of water that is in constant movement, capable of sustaining life because of a flow of fresh water. Isn’t it ironic that free flowing rivers are typically surrounding by a variety of boundaries. Whether they consist of rocks or dry land, these boundaries help keep the water focused and flowing productively. However, whenever a river exists without any boundaries, it is no longer a river.

It becomes a swamp.

Today, if you are confused or at times find yourself upset with God because your life has begun to look like a swampland, rather than a river of living water, remember this one undeniable TRUTH:

God will never answer prayers that would enable us to live more independently of Him.

The freedom God provides us as believers to walk in is in fact not free at all. It requires boundaries. May we all commit to establishing some today.

I’ll never forget when my oldest daughter (Kayla) asked me late one afternoon to read the brand new Dr. Seuss book her grandmother had just sent to her in the mail. Being a big fan of Dr. Seuss ever since I was a kid, and even a bigger fan of the sparkle in my daughter’s eye whenever she would ask me to read to her, I quickly obliged.

So I sat my daughter next to me on the couch, opened the new book, and began to read. But just before I was about to turn over the first page of the book, it happened.

On page 4, it happened. On page 9, it happened. And on page 14 and 15, it happened again.

I stopped reading and asked my daughter if it was okay if we could take a little break. Puzzled as to why I stopped so suddenly, she slowly and (as any then four year-old would) reluctantly agreed. I put the book down and went into bedroom where my wife was sleeping, and frantically tried to wake her up, something I wouldn’t normally do.

After she woke up and turned to me with that ‘this-really-better-be-good’ look on her face, she asked me what was wrong. I took a deep breath, and then told her:

“…I keep SKIPPING words.”

I explained how while reading to my daughter, I kept skipping over certain adjectives and prepositions as if I had already read the book before, making many of the sentences I was reading to her incomplete and at times, confusing. It was though my eyes were in a race to the finish each page, which caused me to have to go back at times and reread certain words.

While my reaction to this new found discovery was one of fright, my wife’s reaction was totally different. She burst into laughter and told me in a very calm and reassuring tone…

“…I’ve known THIS (about you) for some time now.”

Overjoyed that my wife was not going to send me to the local psychiatric ward, I began to wonder if I was the only one with this problem. But after flipping through a few religious television channels later that evening, I realized it wasn’t me at all. This is a problem most in the Body of Christ have today.

When it comes to providing the Body of Christ with a renewed hope and faith in God, no passage of scripture has been referenced and recited more than Jeremiah 29:11. Perhaps you’ve heard of it:

“For I know the plans that I have towards you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

Sunday after Sunday, and at times, channel after channel, millions of believers all over the world are encouraged with the message of an all-knowing, all-powerful God who loves us and has plans to give us a successful and bright future in Him. To know that God, despite all of our shortcomings, would be mindful of us in such a way is truly incredible.

However, what is interesting about this particular passage of scripture is not the words that are found within it, but rather in the words that come BEFORE it. Take a look now at verse 10:

“For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place…”

Did you catch that? If not, allow me to help you.

The entire 29th chapter of Jeremiah consists of a letter that was delivered to the King of Judah by the prophet Jeremiah; a letter that prophesied that the land of Jerusalem (all 10,000 of its citizens) would be taking captive by the infamous tyrant and ruler of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar. I dare you to do a background check on him; he’s got quite the record.

Within this letter, God shares with Jerusalem that while He indeed has thoughts and plans to prosper them, their future successes will only come AFTER a period of great trial and pain. A period that lasted seventy years. So why is that important to remember on today, you ask?

Simply because I want you to know that SUCCESS, while something we all desire and often dream of, does not happen overnight. True success (in God) comes through process.

Now more than ever before, we as believers must exercise patience not only with the reading of God’s word, but also when it comes to our personal lives and goals.

Our desire to get to the end of our struggle must not be at the expense of truly appreciating our struggle.

You are in the middle of a great story. One that is marked for great success. Just remember, as it is with math, or the pages of a children’s book, so it is with scripture:

Ten always comes before Eleven.