Defining Success

How do you define success? 

I was recently asked this question by a couple people as they inquired about some of my personal philosophy towards the ministry of the church.  It’s a great question!

The question is great because too many people never take time to define what success is…or they let others make the definition for them.  As a pastor, I spent the first 8 years of my profession letting others determine what success in ministry would be, and almost always the first answer was “by the number of people coming to your group, program, or church”.  I finally broke free of that and began to drastically re-define my philosophy and definition of success in ministry.  It wasn’t easy…

Here was my response when asked this question last week:

A sense of growing love, support, intimacy, and connectedness with my wife and children.

A sense of “team”, loyalty, and passionate commitment to the vision within my staff. 

When our church growth begins to consist more of “un-churched” or “de-churched” people and not church “transfers”.

Attained trust with community leaders, organizations, and neighbors.

When our church has a truly missional partnership with leaders / churches both locally and globally.

I could go on…but as you can see, I didn’t define my success as a pastor by attaching it to a certain number of people or size of budget.  I used to…but found those things to be completely empty once I attained the goals.

I believe it’s important that we all have defined what success means to us.  If you’re a teacher…how do you define success?  What about you parents?  Salespeople?  Realtors?  Software engineers and garbage collectors?

How would you define success?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.  A conversation such as this will help other readers who maybe haven’t given much thought to this define their belief about success.  Let us know what success means to you!

Love and Peace.

Counting blessings, not calories.

Today I heard on the news that the average American will consume over 4000 calories at their Thanksgiving Day dinner!  That’s twice the daily requirement of the human body!  Let’s not even get started on how many more calories will ingest from all the left overs! 

This Thursday is about spending time with our family, friends, watching football and eating WAY too much food.  It’s a good day!

But more than all of that, this week should be a time where we allow ourselves to slow down enough to consider our blessings.  To ponder our abundance.  To look at what is good in our lives and then ask ourselves how we might turn that goodness around to be a blessing in others’ lives.  That makes for a great week!

As I’ve mentioned from time to time on this blog, I’m a big fan of Banksy art.  Banksy does most of his work on the streets of London as a graffiti artist and his work always has a poignant political message.  The picture below is one of my favorite because it reminds me that talk is cheap.  I have to be a person of action and before I can be an agent of change in this world I must always look at how my own life is being lived. 

I chose this picture today because I know that while I will eat well this Thanksgiving, many others will go without.  Hunger is a real and growing problem in our world and it’s growing more real right here in our backyards. 

Today I’m taking my son to the store to buy food for a local food bank.  He’s taking it to his pre-school tomorrow and I’m so happy that at such a young age he’s becoming aware that people around him don’t always have the stuff he’s fortunate to have…including food.  It will be fun to see what he wants to buy!

What are we most thankful for right now?  Feel free to share your thoughts…

Love and Peace.

Stories of Life and why I’m Thankful for them

I find it hard to believe that Thanksgiving is less than a week away.  We’re still getting through our Halloween candy!  As much as I may think I can ignore them…the holidays are fast upon us which means life gets really busy with putting up the tree, doing a little shopping, holiday parties and making time for our special family traditions.

Last night at my house two very different stories of life collided in my living room.  Two miracles for which I’m most thankful for this week.

For several months now I’ve been posting about my very close friend Daniel and his struggle with a very rare a nd life threatening blood cancer. One year ago, Daniel became sick with what he thought was the flu. 
Weeks later he was finally given the bad news.  He would require a bone marrow transplant if he was to have  a chance at living, and then endure the brutal treatment of chemotherapy.

Today, Daniel is home from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.  He has suffered much from his treatment and still continues to be sick from the chemo.  He has extensive drugs to administer each day while just trying to gain more and more strength to live a normal life.

Contrast Daniel’s story of life and how fragile it became with our news of bringing home our new baby boy this week from the hospital.  Taylor Hamilton was born November 14th and has been a source of total joy in our lives!  He’s perfect!!!

Daniel’s life-story is one of God’s preserving, while Taylor’s life-story is one of God’s creation.  Both of them are at such fragile stages of life…neither of them have any kind of immune system, nor do they have much hair.  

But as their stories collided last night as Daniel took baby Taylor into his arms, I was overwhelmed with gratitude.  Grateful to God for protecting the life of a dear friend, while creating the life of my own son. 

It’s because of Daniel and Taylor that I can’t help but live a life of thankfulness to God.  I don’t need a lot of money…I don’t need a bigger house or nicer stuff.  I can live without seeing Europe or Hawaii.  But I cannot survive without my friends and family!

As we move into a week of Thanksgiving…who or what are you most thankful for at this time in your life?  I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Love and Peace

Son number 3 is here!

Things have been silent here for a while as a week ago my wife Christalle gave birth to our third son, Taylor Bruce Hamilton!  It’s been quite a week now that we’re a family of five!  Not much sleep, but it’s been great to be home with the kids all this time and almost entirely unplug myself from gadgets, email and the internet.  Notice, I said “almost”…:)

Anyways…I’ll have much more to write about later this week and into next.  So much going on and things to think about!

Love and Peace.

“making” the holiday’s special…

My kids still have too much Halloween candy!  Maybe it’s because our neighbors were generous, or maybe it’s because we only give them 2-3 pieces a day.  While it still feels like Halloween in our house, step into any retail store and you will know right away what the focus is.  Christmas…

This morning as I walked through Target looking for a specific item, I couldn’t help but be annoyed by the Christmas music being played.  It’s only November 6th! 

Not to sound like a scrooge or anything, but I try really hard to limit my exposure to Christmas until at least December 1st.  After that…everything is fair game.

From time to time on my blog I like to share resources.  Things that I personally have found worthwhile and important for people to both consider and engage in.  Today, there are a couple ideas that I (and many of my friends) am personally supporting during a two month “season” of constant commercials and temptations to buy stuff people don’t really need.

Make Something Day is promoted as a day (Black Friday in this case) when people focus not on buying things for themselves and others, but making things.  Sound cheesy?  Maybe.  But the message is clear…we give so much of our time and money to walking the malls, and roaming the Internet looking for more stuff to buy…becoming more caught up in the lie that says we have to own more stuff to be happy.

The other resource I’m currently excited about supporting is called Rosa Loves.  My good friends Jeremy and Danielle shared this with me a while ago and I find it to be one of them more creative ventures in helping people in great need. 

The idea is simple…they make great t-shirts.  On each shirt is the story of a person or family.  Whenever someone buys a shirt, a large portion of the purchase goes to funding their need, until enough shirts are sold that the need is met.  The shirts are really cool and would make great gifts for Christmas!

As we enter into the holiday season and all the planning that goes into the next few weeks, I hope that we begin to make generosity our tradition.  I’m all for buying presents for the family, but each year I’m challenged to spend less at the mall and think about what it means to be truly generous.  There are so many creative things we can do this time of year that promote justice and compassion, while still feel like Christmas. 

I’m so thankful for friends like Jeremy and Danille who thought to share Rosa Loves with me!  There have to be a ton of other ideas, and ways in which people are making the holidays special.  There are also, so many traditions that families share in which would be an encouragement for others. 

What is your favorite holiday tradition?  What things have you or your family done to make Christmas something OTHER than spending money and making trips to the mall?  Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas!

Love and Peace.

Moved to Tears

Well, last night was certainly a night I won’t forget.  The images of people in Times Square…Grant Park…and throughout the world were amazing!  John McCain delivered a speech with such a powerful tone of grace that even more defines him as a true American hero, while Obama’s speech was historic. 

It was a night where I once again was reminded of the power and privelige of democracy.  It may not be the kind of “change” many voted for, but how can we ignore the fact that the people SPOKE and a new president was ELECTED.  I’m very grateful to have the freedom to choose my voice!

Again, I thought Obama’s speech was historic.  He didn’t gloat…he was humble and unifiying.  But there was one particlular image that brought me to tears.  Sitting on the couch going back and forth between conversing with my wife, and watching the TV, I found my eyes glued to the screen when the camera went to the Rev. Jesse Jackson standing in the crowd at Grant Park waiting to hear what our new president would say.

Look at his face.  Look at those tears.  They symbolize so much.

While I havn’t always liked Rev. Jackson’s apporach to race issues, he certainly has been a constant voice in bringing racial equality and healing to America.  He walked with MLK…was with him when he died…has given his life to further the dream. 

Rev. Jackson hasn’t always been very kind or supportive of Obama, but last night none of that mattered.  There was healing going on…hope for a better future…the realization of a dream.  It was a powerful thing to witness and as I cried, I hoped that I would not soon forget what I as a white man, US citizen, and Christ-follower was experiencing. 

What moment from last night will stick with you?  Please feel free to share your thoughts…

Love and Peace.

Millions of voices bringing hope to a dream

The day is finally here.  Two years of constant media coverage…bad television commercials…endless conversations about issues, candidates, and who’s right and wrong.  I can’t tell you how glad I am that today is election day!  But…let’s get real here.  The barrage of media coverage will go on…

I woke this morning thinking about the election of a new president and the fact that whomever wins, will make history.  We either have the oldest elected president with the first female VP, or we have the first black man elected as our president.  This is truly an amazing day…one that I will surely talk about to my boys as they grow older.

While the past few months have provided us some intense conversations over which candidate is best suited for leading us, it’s been exciting to see so many people passionate about voting.  This is a good thing for us as citizens, but it can also be dangerous as I’m amazed at how many people put so much faith into one man and his policy.  Let us support whom we’ve given our voice to, but remember that they will make mistakes and only God can bring the hope and restoration humanity seeks.

Speaking of voices…today there are millions of Americans giving their voice to Barack Obama.  Millions of people who see him as the right leader in days we live in.  Now, there certainly are those who are voting for Obama for no other reason other than he’s black.  They don’t care about policy, issues, or character.  They just want to see a black man become president.  Obviously, this is a poor reason for voting.  But for the millions of others who have considered Obama’s message, plan and character without caring about the color of his skin…they are the ones who bring hope to a very important dream.

Let’s ponder the words of Martin Luther King…

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Think of everything he and so many other men and women had to endure and fight for in order to realize their dreams.  As a middle-class white man whose had a relatively easy life…it’s difficult to even imagine giving my life for the dream of having equality.  But, for many in our history, and still today…equality is the all they dream of. 

Today, I’ve already been disappointed in how some of my Christian friends on Facebook have voiced their opinions.  My hope is that the church will not divide ourselves because of who is elected president. 

Again…our president is not our saviour.

Regardless of what the outcome is…God is still in control and still calling the church to be a voice of compassion, reconciliation, and grace.  We should embrace, and pray for our future president…and take time to ponder what a voice of hope can do in bringing unity and equality.

“Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.” Maya Angelou

Love and Peace.

Why Blogging?

From time to time, I’m asked about why I blog.  Each time someone asks the question I’m never quite sure what to think.  Do they believe I’m wasting my time?  Are they interested in starting a blog?  Have they been offended by any of my posts?  Turns out…people have thought I waste time, they are looking for help in starting a blog, and they’ve been offended by some of my thoughts.  Hopefully none of them came to me feeling all those things at once!

Now, I must be honest here.  I did not come up with the idea of sharing my reasons for blogging on my own.  One blog that I follow fairly regularly is Eugene Cho’s Beauty and Depravity.  Recently, he posted something similar and I thought this was a good way to encourage more blogging as well as give insight to his church as to why blogging has been good for him.

So, why do I blog here at Entering the Conversations?  It’s really simple…

1. My blog allows me to journal about questions and issues I’m wrestling with as a Christ-follower and pastor.

2. Blogging gives my readers from Redwood Hills Church  deeper insight into who I am and how their pastor lives as a husband, father, and friend.

3. I’ve chosen to use this space as a way to promote global awareness…especially regarding the issues that force so much suffering in the nation of Swaziland.  There will be much more to come regarding our efforts there through our new non-profit called, Hopeworks.

4. Blogging serves as a great tool for encouragement, critical thinking, hope, and community.  Yes…there can be a sense of genuine community via blogging.

There have been times where I know I come off too critical of the church. The other day I made some remarks about why it bothers me so much that too many Christians spend Halloween night inside the church for harvest festivals, rather than in their own neighborhoods meeting people.  Please know that I’m not railing against people, but rather the system the church has designed for their people to follow.

If you’re a reader and you’ve been put off by some of my comments regarding church budgets, building campaigns, ineffective programs, and our consumerist church culture…I’m sorry.  The point hasn’t been to prick people. 

The point is this…

I have a lot of friends who are living to be Christ-followers and attend their churches faithfully…friends who aren’t believers and have yet to show any interest in being one…but most of all, the majority of my friends are people living to be Christ-followers but struggle with church.  Most of them grew up in church and now for many reasons…either aren’t a part of a faith community, or go to church with their defenses up.

Some of these friends find churches to be exclusive and judgmental towards culture, some have endured wounded relationships with pastors and others in the church, most however feel the church will always be just a place to “go” and not a community of faith where compassion, hospitality, and generosity are a shared experience by a people “becoming” the church.

It’s for these friends that I blog about the church.  I know that I am far being the perfect pastor with the perfect approach to leading people…but because I resonate with so much of what my friends feel about church, I’m made it part of my mission to engage in healthy and difficult conversations with them.  We talk about church culture, trusting the church, money in the church…none of these are easy subjects since there’s plenty of things to blame us pastors and the church for.  But they are needed conversations!

There is so much joy in seeing someone find a community of faith that they can trust, engage in, and journey with.  Millions of Americans are walking away from church and new cool programs, buildings, media presentations, and pastors in jeans aren’t the answer in bringing them back.   We need to sit with them…hear them…open our lives to them.  Trust always begins with relationship…not working harder, or spending more money to make church an enjoyable experience.

I realize that I’m far off the track now.  I began to explain my reasons for blogging and ended up ranting a bit.  Sorry…

Here are also some of the other blogs I read…take some time and check them out.

Jesus Creed

Spirit Farmer

Brian McLaren

USS Mariner

Off the Map

The Ecclesia Collective

The End Zone

Love and Peace.