Category "Uncategorized"

Too Sexy For My Shirt?

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Remember that song from 1991 by the band Right Said Fred…

The one that goes on and on about all the things “I’m too sexy” for?

It arrogantly declares, “I’m too sexy for my shirt.”

Maybe you think it’s disgusting that someone would sing about how they’re too sexy for shirts, cars, hats, Milan, New York and Japan… BUT WE THINK THE SAME THING ALL THE TIME.

Really?

Yes. Really.

We’re constantly thinking, “I’m too ___________ for ____________ .”

For instance…

“I’m too over-qualified for this.”

“I’m too under-qualified for that.”

“I’m too old for helping out with stuff like this.”

“I’m too young for something like that.”

“I’m too messed-up for church.”

“I’m too ___________ for ____________ .”

Basically, this line of reasoning says 1 of 2 things:

Either “I’m too GOOD for this,” or “I’m too BAD for that.”

You know the story of the Good Samaritan, right?

Here’s the super-condensed version:

Dude gets robbed and beaten. He’s left in the gutter to die. A little later, a priest comes by—and when he sees the dude, he avoids the situation by walking on the other side of the road. A few minutes later, a church leader does the exact same thing. Finally, a guy who is pretty low in terms of society’s scale shows up. He jumps in, helps the dude out, and personally finances his recovery (the full version is in Luke chapter 10).

In this story, the priest was thinking ”I’m too sexy for my shirt.”

OK, not really—but he was thinking “I’m too good for this,” which is just as stupid.

Same thing with the church leader.

The Samaritan, rather than thinking “I’m too bad for this,” made himself available to help.

His ego wasn’t over-inflated and it wasn’t under-inflated.

He didn’t think he was too sexy for his shirt.

He also was willing to do what he could.

What’s the point of all this?

STOP THINKING “I’M TOO SEXY FOR MY SHIRT.”

Stop believing “I’m too ___________ for ____________ .”

PUT YOUR SHIRT BACK ON, AND LET GOD USE YOU.

 

Our Dirty Mess

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A few years ago, I visited the apartment of a some college guys from my church.

To be honest, I was shocked. I’d never seen anything dirtier or messier. The cupboards were empty and the sink was overflowing with dirty dishes. The apartment smelled bad. There wasn’t adequate lighting and it was dark in there.

I tried to mask what I was feeling; I tried to act as if this was all normal to me.

Then one of the guys said, “Sit down PB! Make yourself comfortable.”

I looked at the couch. It was covered with crumbs and stains and miscellaneous articles of clothing (dirty of course).

On the inside, I was having a mild panic attack.

On the outside, I smiled, moved a moist sock from the seat to the armrest—and sat down.

I was there for about 35 minutes. I have no recollection of what we talked about.

Here’s what I do remember: feeling uncomfortable and out of place.

It’s embarrassing to admit it, but I was kinda worried that I would get dirty or catch something.

A few weeks later, one of the guys asked me what I thought of his apartment.

For some reason, I answered honestly:

“I was uncomfortable. I thought it was dirty and messy. It stressed me out.”

He laughed. Then he said something I’ll never forget:

“PB, your house stresses me out and makes me uncomfortable.”

I was shocked. “Why?” I asked in disbelief.

He explained, “Because everything is neat and clean and perfect—everything’s in just the right spot. I’m worried that I will mess something up or get your perfect house dirty. It’s stressful. I don’t want to sit down. I don’t want to move. It just stresses me out. When I leave, it’s a relief because I don’t have to worry about messing up your perfect place anymore.”

I could see that he wasn’t being sarcastic or retaliating because of what I said about his place. He was being completely honest.

Wow. My clean house stresses someone out.

Over the years, I’ve thought a lot about that honest conversation we had.

I’m still embarrassed about the “I’m too good for this dirty mess” attitude I had about that apartment.

And I’m thankful God doesn’t have that attitude toward us.

Think about it.

Jesus wasn’t born in a royal palace or in a top-notch hospital.

Nope. He was born in stable, a manger… a barn.

God was perfectly comfortable entering our dirty mess.

“While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to have the baby, and she gave birth to her first son. Because there were no rooms left in the inn, she wrapped the baby with pieces of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough.” (Luke 2.6, 7 NCV)

This is an important truth to always remember:

NO MATTER HOW MUCH OF A DIRTY MESS YOUR LIFE IS, GOD IS HAPPY TO SHOW UP AND MAKE HIS HOME THERE.

Yes, God is perfectly comfortable entering our dirty mess.

 

Welcome to the New & Improved

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Hey! Welcome to the new and improved website. I’ve been needing to do this for quite a while now—and I’m really happy with what we’ve created. OK, confession: I didn’t do any of this. My friend Will Black (@FunnyVideo55) did it all.

I hope you will tour around, explore, and check it all out.

Here are a few highlights:

The new website is called Northwest Leader, www.northwestleader.com and the old website—and its address, www.briandolleman.com will now redirect to the new site.

I will continue to blog about 4 times a week. We’ve made it easy for you to comment (please comment) and link the posts to your favorite social media accounts (please link, like, and all that good stuff).

There’s a brand-new feature: “PB Mini Bytes.” Every Monday, we will release a short (5 or 6 minute) leadership podcast—available to stream from the website or download on iTunes.

There will be regular “Guest Posts” from other bloggers.

Looking for a specific teaching, theme, or topic? Just use the search feature—we have about 4 years of posts archived.

Not much of a reader? Do you tend to flip through books, looking for pictures? Cool—we have something for you too… Check out the “Visual Inspiration” page (it’s candy fo yo eyes).

Thanks for checking out the new and improved website.

Hope you’ll be back often.

 

—PB

 

That Ridiculous Moment

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There’s this ridiculous moment…

It’s the one that occurs right before a miracle.

It happens when you swallow your pride and offer what you are, what you have—knowing full well that it’s not enough, but you offer it anyway.

In that ridiculous moment, you wonder…

Will I be rejected? Laughed at? Blamed? Shamed?

And you think about how insufficient, inadequate, and utterly incompetent you are.

You ask yourself, “Why did I do this, why did I speak up, why did I volunteer myself?”

You feel kinda naked and exposed.

It’s that ridiculous moment…

Between your willingness to do something and God’s miraculous provision.

The little boy who offered his lunch to Jesus because 5,000 people needed something to eat knows what I’m talking about. What a ridiculous moment!

There he is—handing over his lunch to Jesus, thinking about how absurd this gesture must look.

I wonder how many of the 5,000 onlookers rolled their eyes and laughed to themselves.

I wonder how many thought, “Isn’t that cute and naive of him?”

I wonder how many “mature, seasoned veterans” felt rather pleased with themselves—that they didn’t make such an immature move like this boy did.

But the boy didn’t run.

He didn’t yell, “Ha! Just kidding.”

He pressed on—through that ridiculous moment, handing over what he had to Jesus.

He stood there, waited… and the rest is history.

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT RIDICULOUS MOMENT WAS AN AMAZING MIRACLE.

I believe it’s still true today.

God accepts our insufficient, inadequate, and utterly incompetent selves and does something amazing.

Are you willing to experience that ridiculous moment?

Willing & Inadequate

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Sometimes we are willing—we want to make a difference—AND we are completely inadequate.

That combination (willing and inadequate) is where miracles take place.

In the Gospel story of the feeding of the 5,000, there wasn’t enough food available to feed the crowd.

When the disciples reported this to Jesus, he told them to LOOK AGAIN.

Andrew, one of the disciples came back and, said: “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but that is not enough for so many people.” (John 6.8 NCV)

Let me paraphrase: Andrew says, “I found a boy who is WILLING to share his food with everyone, but what he has is completely INADEQUATE for what we’re needing.”

Jesus used what the boy was WILLING to share and performed one of the most legendary miracles.

Here’s what I always wonder about this story…

Was there really no one else there that day who brought any food?

I mean, come on—there’s at least 5,000 people there. SOMEBODY must have brought some snacks with them!

Serious. I bet some lady had ketchup packets in her purse.

And how many diaper bags with Goldfish crackers were there that day?

The thing is, nobody else was WILLING.

Whoever had food with them could see, plain as day, what they had was INADEQUATE.

Whatever anyone had was INADEQUATE—but one person was WILLING.

Look, most of us would like to contribute and make a difference… but we don’t bother trying because we know that we are INADEQUATE.

We gotta stop doing that!

WE ARE ALL INADEQUATE.

Miracles happen when we know what we have is INADEQUATE, but we’re WILLING to give it to God anyway.

One boy’s INADEQUATE lunch miraculously fed 5,000 people because he was WILLING to give what he had to Jesus.

Amazing things happen when you are WILLING and INADEQUATE.

 

Look Again

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We don’t always see what’s REALLY there with the first glance.

Often, we need to take a second look, we need to LOOK AGAIN.

You know the famous story about the feeding of the 5,000—right?

Big crowds came out to hear Jesus teach. They were far away from any restaurants or grocery stores.

The people were tired and hungry. The disciples suggested that Jesus send everyone home.

Jesus said, “No—you give them something to eat.”

A big discussion followed…

“There’s nothing here. If we purchased food, do you know how much it would cost to feed 5,000 people?”

Jesus told the disciples to go LOOK AGAIN.

He said, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see.” (Mark 6.38 NCV)

Andrew, one of the disciples, said: “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but that is not enough for so many people.” (John 6.8 NCV)

Of course, we know how the story ends. It’s a miracle. The food is multiplied and it feeds everyone. In fact, there are even leftovers—12 baskets full.

But before we arrive at the end of the story, something significant happened in the middle of the story… it’s when Jesus told his disciples to LOOK AGAIN.

You see, they were ready to call it a day. They decided nothing could be done.

But Jesus said, “LOOK AGAIN.”

When they looked again, Andrew discovered a boy with a little food—enough for maybe just a handful of people.

It wasn’t “enough,” but it was something.

And Jesus took that little, insignificant amount of food—and he multiplied it.

He made it enough. Jesus made it significant.

We see people and things all the time… which at first glance might seem little or insignificant.

I believe Jesus says to us, “LOOK AGAIN.”

The little and the insignificant… this is exactly what He likes to use.

So when you think, “There isn’t enough here to make a difference,” LOOK AGAIN.

When you’re ready to count someone out, LOOK AGAIN.

And when you’re ready to call it hopeless, LOOK AGAIN.

What seems little or insignificant to you might be the beginnings of a great miracle!

 

Leftovers, Table Scraps, & Doggy Bags

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I’ve never liked taking leftovers home from a restaurant.

Maybe it’s the inconvenience of asking for a to-go box.

Maybe it’s the odor of leftover food that makes your car stink.

Or maybe it’s because I remember how they called to-go boxes “doggy bags” when I was a kid.

Doggy bag? I assume that means, “this food is perfect for a dog… or you, if your standards are Labradoodle-level.”

My wife LOVES leftovers.

She will take things from other peoples plates and put their scraps in her to-go box.

She takes the bread from the center of the table.

I’ve seen her take handfuls of the little hard candies that restaurants leave out (She really goes crazy over the ones at Maggiano’s).

I’ve come to the conclusion that my wife is more like Jesus than I am.

Why?

Jesus had a thing for leftovers too.

In Luke chapter 9, we have another Gospel retelling of the feeding of the 5,000 story.

QUICK RECAP: Huge crowds. Hungry people. No McDonalds or Taco Bell in sight. A little boy offers up his lunch… 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (I’m thinking he must have been in junior high ‘cause that’s a lot of food for lunch). Jesus blesses the food, breaks it, distributes it to the disciples—and the disciples give it to the people. MIRACLE HAPPENS. Everyone eats and has enough. In fact, there’s even leftovers. Jesus has the disciple pick up the leftovers… 12 baskets full.

I like to think that Jesus had each disciple take home a basket full of the food. Can you imagine them going home explaining the story behind their “doggy bags” full of bread and fish?

Even after everyone was fed, Jesus noticed the leftovers.

He gave them value, worth, and significance.

They could have been overlooked—but Jesus saw them and had them collected.

To someone else, a few scraps here and there might not have seemed significant…

But Jesus took a second look. He saw value in the leftovers.

There are people in our world who have been tossed to the side, discarded, and counted-out.

They feel like leftovers…

And Jesus notices. He sees them. He recognizes their value, significance, and worth.

To Him, they are worth going back for.

Let’s be like Jesus.

Let’s take a second look.

Let’s notice the “leftovers,” and bring them in!

 

Pro Wings & Norsport (LABELS)

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Back in the ’80’s when I was a kid, Payless ShoeSource was known as Volume.

Volume sold Pro Wings—shoes that were cheap knock-offs of the cool brands.

I remember wanting a pair of black high-top Converse shoes, but they weren’t in the budget. So what did I get instead? A pair of Pro Wings black high-tops that looked pretty much just like the Converse shoes… but they had a different label.

That label drove me crazy. I was constantly thinking about positioning my feet in a way that hid or covered the Pro Wing label. Eventually, I took a black Sharpie and covered the label entirely.

I also remember somehow getting a pair of Norsport tennis shoes (Norsport was Nordstrom’s own brand of shoes). You guessed it—there was never an attempt to hide the Norsport label. Actually, it was quite the opposite. I wore them proudly—and I wanted everyone to see that label.

I’m sharing my ‘80‘s shoe history to point out a simple truth:

Labels can give us a sense of value or lack of value, worth or lack of worth, significance or insignificance.

I grew up wanting to prove myself—prove my value, worth, and significance.

I wanted to have the right labels…

And not just the right brand labels, but the right labels that people put on you—like: popular, funny, athletic, creative, intelligent, good-looking, wealthy, in-style, etc.

The right labels make you feel worth something.

The wrong labels make you feel low and insignificant.

The Bible says when we become Christians, our old life is gone and a new life has begun. The old life, with all its labels, no longer defines us. We are now defined by what God has done, rather than what we have done.

Check it out:

“Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his LABEL on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, MEAN NOTHING. From now on everyone is DEFINED BY CHRIST, everyone is included in Christ.” (Colossians 3.10, 11 MSG)

Here’s another passage that re-defines us:

“You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with Christ. This means that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. In Christ, there is NO DIFFERENCE between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. You belong to Christ, so you are Abraham’s descendants. You will inherit all of God’s blessings because of the promise God made to Abraham.” (Galatians 2.27-29 NCV)

What are these Scriptures telling us?

The OLD LABELS MEAN NOTHING.

There is NO DIVISION, NO DIFFERENCE, NO DISTINCTION, with those who are in Christ.

There are no special classes of people. No hierarchy. No low people and no high people.

In Him, we’re all the same. In Him, we are valuable, significant, and worthy.

This is why, in the Christian faith, we must never attempt to categorize or class people. We must never attempt to keep people low. Religions that keep people low are really about the privileged few increasing their significance by lowering the significance of others. That is ABSOLUTELY ROTTEN and disgusting, and it has nothing to do with the Gospel.

Our “deal” is not about posturing for position or class or distinction. Rather, it is all about receiving worth and a new identity in Christ…

And we don’t have to keep others low in order for us to be somebody anymore.

In Christ, our identity is set, secure, and forever significant.

So now, we see right through all the labels, and we lift others who have been kept low.

 


Carlos, Danny, & Me

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My best friends in grade school: Danny and Carlos.

These were my boys…

We attended school together.

We hung out together.

We went to each other’s homes.

Carlos’ mom gave us Spanish lessons and quesadillas after school.

Danny lived in my neighborhood. We’d meet up and to walk to Albertson’s to buy candy—Fun Dip and Pop Rocks.

Carlos, Danny and me looked different from each other.

Carlos had black, straight hair.

Danny’s hair was curly.

My hair was puffy.

The color of our skin was different. We had slightly different accents. We were a diverse trio…

And we were the best of friends.

We spent lots of time together and many adventures.

However, there was one thing we never did together…

We never attended church together.

On Sunday, we all went our separate ways—me, to my white church, Carlos, to his hispanic church, and Danny, to his black church.

I remember wondering to myself: If we do everything else together, why can’t we go to church together?

Over 40 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King said, “We must face the sad fact that the eleven o’clock hour on Sunday morning when we stand to sing, we stand in the most segregated hour in America.”

My story about Carlos, Danny, and me is from the ’80’s.

Do you think things have changed since then?

Not really. According to sociologist Dr. Michael Emerson, 93% of the churches in America are racially segregated.

Stink!

This fires me up. It ticks me off. I hate it.

I don’t want a church that reflects just one homogenized slice of our community.

I want a church that reflects the community!

Look at the description of the people in God’s Kingdom from the book of Revelation: “I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. EVERYONE was there—ALL NATIONS and TRIBES, ALL RACES and LANGUAGES.” (Revelation 7.9 MSG).

What were they doing there?

“They were shouting with a mighty shout, ‘Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb.’” (Revelation 7.10 NLT)

They were worshiping TOGETHER.

Different nationalities. Different cultures. Different backgrounds. Different accents. Different flavors. TOGETHER.

My favorite days at church are when we have a big outreach (like our Backpack Giveaway).

Why?

Because EVERYBODY comes out.

These events are beautifully diverse.

And that’s how the church should be.

That’s how we WILL be.

 


Be Careful. Be Reckless.

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The other day we were telling someone about our Thanksgiving Grocery Giveaway.

The lady responded, “Wow, that’s cool! You be careful though. You really gotta check people out and make sure they need it before you give them something. People will try to take advantage of you—so don’t give them anything!”

Both Shari and I thought the same thing: No way! We’re givers, not investigators. Of course someone will take advantage of us. No biggie! Others who have genuine needs will also come and be blessed.

We are often “careful” with our kindness toward others—while at the same time being “reckless” in giving grace to ourselves.

We need to flip that around.

We should be reckless in giving grace towards others, and we should be careful with ourselves.

Jesus told a parable about a farmer sowing seed, and that seed landing on 4 different types of soil…

The footpath, the rocky ground, among weeds, and fertile soil.

An easy application of this parable is personal: be good ground—be fertile soil.

In other words, you be careful to receive and respond to what has been graciously given to you.

Another takeaway from this parable is that we should sow INDISCRIMINATELY, even RECKLESSLY.

That’s what the farmer did. His seed was thrown on ALL types of ground.

He didn’t pre-judge. Nope. He sowed his seed—hoping that something good would come of it.

Our job isn’t to be investigators or judges, deciding who has potential and who doesn’t.

Our job is to love, serve, give, bless… to be reckless in giving grace to others.

Our job is to sow good seed indiscriminately, hoping that something good will come of it.

As far as our own lives are concerned: Be careful. Be good ground.

When it comes to others: Be reckless. Give huge amounts of grace. Hope for the best, and don’t worry about it.