by David Delp | Jun 1, 2017 | Leadership, Podcast Episodes
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
These 6 traps will cause you to make and perpetuate bad decisions. Overcoming or avoiding these traps will keep you moving forward on the path to the summit of the God-given dreams inside you.
In this third episode of this three-part series on making good life and leadership decisions, David and Donna discuss 6 Traps Keeping You from Reaching Your Summit . This discussion draws from many years of ministry experience, some of the difficulties we’ve faced, and how those things are related to exercising wisdom and incorporating godly counsel in taking decisive actions and calculated and God-honoring risks.
For a time stamped outline, episode notes, and other practical resources, continue reading…
(more…)
by David Delp | May 4, 2017 | Podcast Episodes, Spiritual Life
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
You cannot be coached or led beyond the borders of your faith. If you don’t believe, you cannot step into your desired and directed future. So, how do we enlarge the borders of our faith? Through experience, inspiration, revelation, and trust, spiritual leadership can calibrate belief and develop the courage to step into God’s design for their lives.
Continue reading for detailed and time stamped notes. (more…)
by David Delp | Sep 29, 2016 | Spiritual Life, Uncategorized
When you see obstacles, odds, and enemies larger than your own resources — do not be afraid.
I am at a men’s prayer summit this week. I decided I would do a post every morning related to what I’m “hearing” and “seeing.” I am a recovering perfectionist, so shooting from the hip is hard for me, I don’t like to push “publish” until I’ve completely over thought a post, but I am intentionally not over thinking this week… because I need to loosen up a bit and let who I really am show through. This is the final installment of my “Thoughts from the Summit” series.
God is laying out new paths in my life. Dreams and visions that have emerged for decades are finding legs. Every dream and every vision comes complete with its own set of obstacles. We have to wrestle through the obstacles. Whether you are leading a church, a business, or building out new platforms in your life, you will, of course, face obstacles and resource challenges.
In The Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 20, God gives directives for going to war. In the pursuit of our calling, our dreams, and the fulfillment of God’s vision in our lives we have to cross the boundaries of our comfort zones and move into conflict.
Deuteronomy 20:1 says, “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (ESV).
How can we position ourselves to boldly pursue the things in our hearts? Here are four things declarations necessary to go boldly into the battle to contend for the vision.
Rely Upon God’s Resource
Look around. See the odds against you. Just look at all the other people who have gone before you who failed and the remnants of their foolish attempts lie scattered on the ground. Faith says that if my directive is from God, God will provide. If the battle is the Lord’s, then we trust him to intervene in the battle. When my resource is inadequate, then it does not really matter how inadequate my resource is… too little is too little no matter how it scales. When I get into a God-zone, then either I trust or I don’t, there really is no in between.
I’ve always wanted to live my life in pursuit of God’s plan for my life in such a way that I was reliant upon him. To pursue God-dreams so big that if God did not resource and intervene, I would utterly fail. I am getting dangerously close to such a posture, and it is kind of scary. It’s scary because I have to give up control. It’s scary because my resource is not enough. It’s scary because I have to trust, trust that God is sufficient.
God is With You
The difficult implication of Deuteronomy 20 is that God is with “you” and not “them.” Be careful with this. When I frame this in the context of God’s calling on my life, if God has called me to a task, if he has birthed a vision within me, then his purposes and activity in my life supersedes the strength of the obstacles. Walking through the grief process the greatest comfort to me was, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he is WITH me.” I learned in a new way that God was with me. The word of God to his people is, “When you see obstacles 10x bigger than you are, don’t be afraid because I am with you.”
Stand Against the Obstacles
A house divided against itself cannot stand. God cannot be for the thing he put in you and for the things that tear you down. Think about it. Sometimes we pursue our own imaginations, and it is dangerous to assume our own imagination is a directive from God. We have to work out the difference. Sometimes all we can do is move forward with a sincere heart and proper motivations. Time and God’s activity will bring some adjustments.
There are always obstacles, and I cannot let them scare me away from the things I sincerely believe I am to pursue.
God Has Proven Himself in the Past
When we look back we see good things and bad things. I’ve been through the times of looking back and just getting angry that God did not intervene differently, but I also look back and see God working on my behalf. David, the shepherd boy, had the courage to go against Goliath because he had been victorious in his skirmishes with bears and lions while protecting the sheep. David’s reasoning was that God helped him with the bears and the lions, he would help also him with the giants. If God helped us before he will help us again.
Contending for a vision is sometimes like going to battle. We have to wrestle against ever-present obstacles. Usually, the world isn’t out to get us… it just feels that way sometimes. Stepping into our desired future is always hard because it necessitates leaving our comfort zone. That, in and of itself, is a battle.
I will boldly content for the things in my heart… because I believe they came from the heart of the Father.
(NOTE: This post is the last in the series of “Thoughts from the Summit.” I took on the challenge of posting “from the hip” things that were stirring in my heart this week.)
by David Delp | Sep 27, 2016 | Spiritual Life
Outcomes are not my responsibility. I am at a men’s “prayer summit” this week and I will post a few thoughts from the “summit.” This is some quick hits of things I’m thinking about this week. It is important to pull back from routine regularly and calibrate.
This thought has come to me consistently and almost continuously over the past 24 hours, “The outcomes are not my responsibility.” The perfectionist in me wants to qualify that statement. Yes, I take responsibility for my decisions and actions, but there is so much in life I cannot control. Fear keeps me from starting, but starting is my chief responsibility. I cannot control ultimate outcomes. I can only trust that if I do the right things the right things will happen.
I always thought that if I was “good enough” and if I worked hard enough, I could keep my family safe, healthy, provided for, and we could live the life I envisioned in my head. It is my responsibility to see the vision, to start the journey, be faithful to what I hear in my heart, take action, etc., etc., but the end result is not the object, the object is day to day obedience, trust, and action. There are simply a lot of things along the way I cannot control.
Am I to take LESS action? Am I to sit passively and just LET life happen? No, I will be a man of action. I will be a starter. I will dream dreams and see visions and I will pursue them with faith and courage. But when the circumstances of life make it impossible to ZIG, I will ZAG.
[shareable]When the circumstances of life make it impossible to ZIG, I will ZAG.[/shareable]
Ok, typical of the way I think… here are three action points to help us do this:
First, Hear
My mission in life is to listen to the heartbeat of the Father and to write, speak, and do what I hear. I take the time to listen and I am committed to following the paths I believe God is leading me on. Meditation, prayer, journaling are important. Every successful person I’ve ever met has a quiet time in their daily routine to think. I use my quiet time to listen. Pacing and shouting during your prayer time is a good thing, I do it more often than you’d think, but I find that what God has to say is always more important than what I have to say. I need to listen.
Second, Trust
When I listen, and I hear, I then must trust what I’m hearing. This is cultivated. I must position myself that the outcomes are not my responsibility, but acting upon what I hear is my responsibility. If I fail to START because the end result is not guaranteed, then I will never start. I have to trust God to orchestrate the end result.
But, its not enough that I trust God… I have to trust God in me. I have to trust my relationship and my ability to hear clearly. Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I get it wrong, but I must have the COURAGE to go forward on what I sincerely believe is right. Even if I am wrong, if I proceed with a pure and sincere heart (Psalm 25), God is still able to orchestrate the right outcome.
[shareable]It is not enough to trust God… I must trust God in me.[/shareable]
Third, Act
Pull the trigger. Take action. Don’t try to do, do. If I sit around trying to clarify everything I will never take action. There is a time for waiting, a time for being certain, a time for testing the waters, a time for thinking, a time for caution, a time for observation… But, for-crying-out-loud, make a decision to pull the trigger and get on with it. You have to trust enough to get on with it.
Hey, a lot of this is self-talk. I struggle with this every day of my life.
I am emboldened when I realize the outcomes are not my responsibility. Taking action and doing what I know to do is my responsibility. I cannot foresee the unexpected. I don’t know how long I will live. I don’t know how long my loved ones will live. I do not know when tragedy will strike (again). I cannot control governments, the economy, politics, or evil people. I can control my obedience and the actions I take.
I will do my best to (1) clearly listen, then I will (2) trust myself enough to act, and then (3) I will trust God to bring about HIS outcome.
by David Delp | Mar 3, 2016 | Leadership, Uncategorized
Your God-given dreams are YOUR responsibility. You have to steward your dreams. You cannot expect someone else to make it happen for you. There are 5 areas of maturity that we must cultivate to properly go forward with purpose.
This is my second post about pursuing our dreams and our purpose. Lately, that’s been a very important subject to me. Like many of you, I have some big dreams in my heart that I believe God has given me. I am intrigued with how our journey of losing spouses has both majorly disrupted the pursuit of life purpose, but has also keenly focused us on what is important and not important, which in turn better prepares us for what is ahead.
In a previous post I wrote about Keeping the Dream Alive. In this post I will explore some lessons I’ve learned in aligning dreams with present context and moving forward with maturity. This post is about taking responsibility for our dreams and not placing the responsibility upon someone else.
Sometimes, when we feel others should lend their influence to our vision, and they do not, improper attitudes may develop. In the church world we call a subversive attitude an “Absalom spirit.” The term refers to the story in the bible (2 Samuel) of Absalom, King David’s son. Absalom’s vision of the future was different than King David’s, and was openly critical of his father. He gathered people around his cause and actively campaigned against David. Admittedly, David made mistakes, but Absolom’s response has become a biblical standard against improper attitudes toward spiritual leadership.
Some see a subversive attitude toward a struggling leader, or a leader with a different vision, as acceptable, but it is wrong. An Absalom attitude, along with being morally wrong, destroys elements necessary to the success of any organization or team: trust, respect, teamwork, and the cohesiveness of character. An Absalom spirit can arise in us when we feel our vision of the future is better and more important than that of the leader or the leadership team.
An Absalom spirit can arise when we feel our vision of the future is better and more important than that of the leader or the leadership team.
An immature leader will sometimes see their vision of the future as more important than anyone else’s. They want their ideas to become the organization’s priorty. Such immature people cannot understand why other ministries and initiatives are not scrapped to free budget resources for them to fulfill their vision.
I once worked with a staff pastor who was doing an awesome job. This team member was already consuming an inordinate amount of the budget on their vision. He grew frustrated because the leadership of the church would not keep fueling him with more and more general resources needed by other vital ministries. His vision was big. His vision was a good vision. It was difficult for him to understand why we could not fund it at greater levels.
Your vision is no one else’s responsibility. If you are a visionary your dreams will always outstrip your ability to pay for it. Part of stewarding a vision is seeking God for the resources to do it. While God is our source, you have to take responsibility for funding your vision and not get “put off” when everyone doesn’t roll over to make your dream happen.
Mature leaders understand when God speaks something to them they have to take responsibility for shepherding the vision. Yes, inspire others, include others, inspire others to find themselves in the vision, maybe it will become their vision too, but do not develop a sense of entitlement that implies that since God gave you a vision everyone else needs to fall in line and see that it gets done.
Here’s the deal… Anybody can have an idea. Ideas are a dime a dozen. I have more ideas floating around in my head now than I will ever accomplish and that would take years of work, sacrifice, and fund-raising to carry out. Not every idea is a God idea. I have ideas about websites and apps and videos and books, the list goes on and on. It is no one else’s responsibility to make the things in my heart happen–it’s mine, and I have to decide what is and is not worth the investment. Anybody can have an idea. So what? Those who can shepherd ideas into reality are valuable.
Anyone can have an idea, the value comes in being able to make it a reality.
The train wreck begins when we see our leaders and our team as “irrelevant,” “too passive,” and Absalom’s pearl–“they just don’t have vision.” And then Absalom talks about it. At the city gate, in the rest room, and worse, he alludes to it in meetings and manipulates others into saying it out loud while he is quiet in a telling way with a knowing look on his face.
I must take responsibility for the dreams and visions God has given me. I have to take responsibility for moving my “great adventures” forward. In moving the God-visions in my heart forward I have to exercise maturity to assure that the things God has put on my heart aligns with His broader plan. How do we keep our dreams and visions aligned with God’s big-picture? How do we protect ourselves from an “Absolom spirit?”
We must cultivate at least five areas of maturity to protect our hearts while moving our God-given dreams and visions forward.
#1 Cultivate maturity in your communications.
Do not have a hidden agenda in your communications, let your “yes” mean “yes” and your “no” mean “no” (Matthew [5:37]). As communicators we know how to “spin” things. Have integrity in the motivation behind your words.
#2 Cultivate maturity in your expectations.
To expect others to take responsibility for fulfilling our dreams is immature. People will only engage with your vision when it becomes their vision, when they can see themselves in it. It isn’t about you.
#3 Cultivate maturity in your perspectives.
An immature person only sees things important to their agenda. A spiritual leader has to have a “big picture” perspective. Organizations and churches are systemic, everything affects everything. Someone has to keep everything in focus and make decisions based upon outcomes affecting the entire organization. To have a team member trying to promote a sliver of the vision over everything else is wearisome.
#4 Cultivate maturity in your pace.
Repositioning, major changes, and culture shifts take a long time. Immaturity and impatience are synonymous when it comes to moving a dream or a vision forward. Timing and alignment are critically important. An “Absolom spirit” is critical of the necessary pace and often pushes for things to move faster than they should.
#5 Cultivate maturity in your understanding of ownership.
When you are the one who owns primary responsibility for a decision, things look differently. The weight of a decision rightfully rests upon the one with the most responsibility. Immaturity presses us to seek the right of decision-making without owning the responsibilities. The primary leader owns the responsibility for organizational outcomes, no matter how many assurances come from team members that they will own the responsibility for decisions. We have to own our decisions and we have to respect the fact that, when under authority, our leaders will also have to own our decisions.
Your dreams fit into someone else big-picture. We do not dream in a vacuum. We must help those we mentor and coach to understand how their dreams, visions, and life-purpose fits into their big-picture. We must also be careful to keep the right attitude toward those over us as we pursue our purpose. It is my responsibility to steward my God-given dream and I must diligently seek to understand how that dream aligns with the context in which God has placed me.
Thoughts?
