I was doing Gods work

at a pace that was destroying Gods work in me

The problem ‘‘Come, all you who are thirsty, come to

the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and not without cost. Why spend money on what is bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.

Leadership in the 21st century I was a pastors conference junkie. I was addicted to

any new idea on church growth or management, or any new program for getting people motivated and involved. I wanted something I could count on to work

Don’t tell them how to make the system work. Because the more the system works, the more it gets in the way of the pastor knowing Christ

The bigger my church became , the more I felt isolated. Because I felt so dry in my soul, I had to pull from more surface parts of me to keep the vision going.

The problem ‘‘Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the

waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.

The promise I will make an everlasting covenant with

you, my faithful love promised to David. 4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. 5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.”

A Spirit planned building 1 Chr 28.11Then David gave his son

Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. 12 He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind…19 ‘‘All this,” David said, ‘‘I have in writing from the hand of the LORD upon me, and he gave me understanding in all the details of the plan.”

A discordant note!

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near 7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 ‘‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 ‘‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Real sloth Isn't sloth doing nothing at all? No! Sloth

is doing nothing of what we were created to do as beings made in the image of God and saved by the cross of Christ. Sloth is laziness at the centre while the periphery is a-dazzle with a torrent of activity and talk. This sin of sloth nimbly dodges the fundamental human task of being attentive to God, of being self aware as a creature of God. This attentiveness and awareness is hard work;

Real sloth we would rather do almost anything else

but we also would not like to be caught in our laziness so we talk fast and move fast , we impress people with our activity and responsibilities and full schedules. People admire us for getting so much done and for being so involved and flatter us by saying they could not get along without us. Over activity, overwork and over involvement are each a cover up for laziness—at the centre.

The hidden cost ‘‘Come, all you who are thirsty, come to

the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

The grand exchange 10 As the rain and the snow come down

from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

The result 12 You will go out in joy and be led forth

in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed

Power vs. influence The problem with positional power is that

while it may control the actions of another human being, it does not capture the heart . Influence, on the other hand, wins the heart and soul of another through the strength of one’s own character and personhood. Power shapes what a person does, influence shapes who they become. Influence is born out of trust and finds its strength in the connection of heart and soul

An ancient example 15.18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with

Abram and said, ‘‘To your descendants I give this land

16.1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. … 2 so she said to Abram, ‘‘The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.”

17.1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, . 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.