I’m honored that lots of pastors all over the world read this blog. And as another weekend of preaching and teaching quickly approaches, I thought I’d pass along to Senior Pastors everywhere something one of my friends and mentors shared with me.
Craig Groeschel recently challenged me to stop overcooking my sermons.
This doesn’t mean study less, pray less, and mail it in.
In fact, when you stop overcooking the sermon, you’ll probably find your prayer and study time increasing, not decreasing.

What will decrease is the amount of time and energy that you spend obsessing over the incidentals.
Does it really matter if your joke is perfectly timed?
Will anyone’s eternity be jeopardized if your outline isn’t perfectly parallel and alliterated?
If you pop the clutch on the transitions, will your church fall apart?

Instead, obsess over what really matters. Prepare your heart. Ask God to give you prophetic insight in your application. Master the text. Feel the burden. Lose yourself in the anointing of God.
And let it fly this Sunday.

Today marks the halfway point of our 21 day Daniel Fast.  Along with each day that we’re fasting, we’re reading one chapter in the book of John.  Since today is day 11, we’re reading John 11.  It just so happens that my sermon this week comes from John 11, too.  So throughout the day, the staff will be twittering an insight or two that God spoke to them this morning.  (They may also be sharing what meal they are most looking forward to at the end of the Daniel Fast.)

To all Elevators who have not yet jumped in to the Daniel Fast, why not consider doing the last 10 days with us.  All the information you need is right here.  God is doing awesome things and the best is yet to come.

The Bible says that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.
That’s a great verse.  A powerful promise.
And it’s even more powerful in its context.
Because the verse right after it continues:
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.
(Psalm 37:23-24)

I’ve been encouraged many times by reminding myself that God orders my steps.  He helps me make wise decisions.  He guides me in my choices.
But doesn’t it encourage you even more to know that He even orders your falls?
He doesn’t just help me choose the right path.  He redeems me graciously even when I choose the wrong one.

He doesn’t only order my successes.  He orders my failures too.
And it all works together for my good, and His glory.

There’s a fine line between discernment and paranoia.  Where exactly is the line?
If you sense that someone in your life is lying to you, and you don’t have proof of it, but you just feel it, how can you know whether it’s discernment or paranoia?

What if a pastor begins to sense that someone’s loyalty to the vision may be waning?  How can he appropriately gauge whether the concern is Spirit-led?

I’ve been thinking about this some recently.  By no means have I reached any profound or ultimate conclusions, but here are my first few thoughts on how to
sift paranoia out of your decision making:

• Make evaluations of people based on patterns rather than isolated instances.  Everybody slips up.  Everybody has bad days.

• If you’re unsure whether a negative impression you have about someone is discerning or paranoid, it’s better to talk to them about it than to let it poison the relationship.  Be honest and tell them you have an impression, but you’re not sure whether you’re on the money.  You might offend them, but at least you won’t run the risk of projecting false motives on them anymore.  Approaching them in humility is critical.

• Get trusted input.  Nobody is more key in helping me filter the paranoia out of my discernment than my wife, the Holly Spirit.  Second place would go to Chunks and Lori.  These people give me invaluable reads on whether what I’m sensing is from the Lord, or whether I just need some rest.

• Pray.