DannyHesterly

The bubble or whatever that thing is called

As a leader, what echoes from our daily lives speaks volumes about our convictions, direction and  sense of purpose. I'm not a huge comic book guy, but I like to read them from time to time. And every comic book I've read has these bubbles over the characters heads letting us know what they are thinking, saying and about to do. Without those bubbles letting us know what's going on inside the characters mind it could be a little more more difficult to figure out what exactly is going on. Now the graphics/pictures are pretty amazing and there are some pages that can stand alone with no text, but it's the bubbles that really give direction to the comic book. I wonder what our lives would be like if we walked around with bubbles over our heads letting people know what is really on our mind, what we believe, our dreams, our passions, give a heads up to someone who we're about to go WHAM...WHACK Batman style on...no more secrets...no more hiding...the world needs to see Jesus made alive in the frailty of humanity. 

To be a fully, devoted follower of Jesus it's important for those you hang with know what your bubble says and who it points to. I don't want my life/actions to mislead anyone about who I'm really following, which is a struggle but it's through those struggles/conflicts that makes our bubble really defined on who we are following. In the first chapter in the book of Romans, Paul makes a statement that he's not ashamed of the Gospel. I'm a huge Fighting Illini fan and I'm not ashamed to let people know that I'll be rooting for them to win the NCAA Tourney this year and I'll be all decked out in Illini orange  (I can dream right). I'm not saying we should be uber crazy and fanatic about sharing Jesus to the world that it's so intrusive it repels people from the message of hope. But our lives should clearly mark where and to whom our bubble points to...to a God that's is full of grace. What does your bubble say about you today? Where/Who is it pointing to?

Weigh the Cost...

Every so often, God reminds me about keeping the important things in my life important. That's easier to say than to accomplish becasue, I don't know about you, but my life can get pretty busy with all kinds of things that seem to be important. The reality is...I wear all kinds of hats and it's hard to juggle life at times. I'm a husband, dad, brother, uncle, friend, generational ministries pastor, student pastor, mentor, graphic designer (a not very good one), website updater guy, blogger, athlete, learner, when buzz lightyear's helmet comes off fixer person, etc. Where do I give most of my time to? How can you create balance when things are often lop-sided? To me, all these areas are important  and they're important to those I help, counsel, play with and give my life to.

My wife, Erin, has always been a great voice of reality in my life. Where I think, I can always come to some compromise and make everyone happy...she voices it's not possible and it's not healthy to try to be that kind of person (sounds a lot like my dad...love ya man!). Another voice that God uses to speak things in my life has been my students @ NUNATION. Sometimes it's what they say in reponse to a message, but a lot of times it's when we're just hanging out talking about life and then they surprise me by something they say or something they did. And it makes me think, "Hey, that was pretty awesome. There's a lot of wisdom in what they just said, or spiritual maturity in what they just did." I had a student come tell me recently that he's decided to not play a sport this spring. It's not that he doen't like the sport any more. It's just not his focus. To me, to make a decision like that shows maturity. I'm quite certain that this decision was hard and took time to make. What my student was doing was weighing the cost. He took a moment to examine his life and saw areas that needed focus and saw things he could do without. Made the call and his life became a little more lighter.

Keeping the important things in life important is a daily choice to keep your priorites in check. I'm sure I'll have days when my priorities will gets out of whack, but it's my heart's desire to see my relationshp with my family, friends and students stay at the top and in balance. It's about weighing the cost...understanding where I put my focus helps me to know where and what I'm willing to sacrifice in order to achieve what's most important in my life.

(For those wondering where God is...he's in everything I do. The driving force in seeing my relationships grow. God is not a priority...he's at the very center of who I am.)

12 Days of Fast: Day 2

Feb 14: Acts 20:24 "My Life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus- the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God." God has a general purpose and a specific purpose for our lives. Your general purpose is to let God's love and light shine out from you to influence people for God's Kingdom. You do this with a pure motive. It's not about increasing our numbers at NUNATION or keeping score on how many people you can get into a relationship with Jesus...like it's some kind of competition. It's all about seeing your friends, family or the lonely, broken, hurting students at school begin to see that their life has worth and meaning when found in a relationship with Jesus.  God's grace is for everyone! I want to challenge you as you experience His grace on a daily basis to share that experience with your closest friends. Let them know how much God means to you...because that's what friends do right? They share what's most important in their lives because it matters to them. Next month we'll look at this idea of what a specific purpose is all about. Don't forget to review the Fast Plan to get an idea on how to spend your time today with God.

-Pick what meal I'm going to FAST

-Get alone somewhere where there is little to no distraction

-Silence my cell phone

-Get my Bible out and turn to the scripture verse

-Ask God to speak to my heart and mind

-Pause and let what was just read soak in

-Read over my thoughts

-Pause and just sit still for a moment and think about what God might be saying to me

-Share what's been going on in my life with God

For My Link Leaders

I've been reading the book, "What is God Really Like?" and in one of the chapters written by John Burke he makes a few statements that really messed me up and I wanted to share it with you in hopes that it would do the same.

"God is a God of mercy and compassion, and he wants people to know he's for them, not against them. But for that to happen in our cities, we have to let things get messy in the church...if we're going to create an environment where messy, broken people can come together and let God grow them into the people he intended, we have to become like God, who is merciful...instead of focusing on the external, messy behaviors of others, we must focus on helping them see what God sees in them that was worth dying for."

There are countless MS/HS students who are held hostage by the enemy. And the wild thing is, for many, they don't even know they're being held captive from an abundant life that's found ONLY in Jesus. I don't know about you, but praying that God would make our student ministry "messy" scares the daylights out of me. But when I read about the life of Jesus, that's exactly what he did. He never approved the mess the people were in, but understood the importance of loving them, sharing the truth, and letting them know they didn't have to remain a captive. 

I want all my Link Leaders to start praying that God will begin to prepare us for a great move of God at NN. Because when that happens we will experience students who have a lot of mess in their lives. We are to be patient and loving. Caring about them even when they are difficult and my cause issues here and there. BUT WE WILL NOT in any way neglect the hurting lives of teenagers.

So be ready! It's time for us to step up our game. There'll be more required of you, more help will be needed, changes will be made, but the God who sees it all will give us the wisdom and strength to accomplish it all. 

For My NUNATION Students...

 "Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity..." 1 Timothy 4:12

Something that I feel God has really placed on my heart this school year is getting my Middle/High school students prepared to go into their school and begin to share their faith in creative ways. If you think about it, MS/HS students spend an average of 7-9 hours each day at school including some kind of extra curricular activity. That's 35-45 hours a week they are with their friends, teachers, coaches, band/choir directors, and people their age they don't even know. When begin to think about that I GET VERY EXCITED!!!!. I've begun to let my students know that their perspective on going to school has got to change from a dreaded, "Oh my God, I have to go to school again" to "God, use me today to be a God light in someone's life." I'm teaching them to go to school with the mentality that there are countless of opportunities to show the love of God..to look at their school as a mission field, if that makes sense. This morning, as I was praying over NUNATION and my students I asked God that he might use us to let MS/HS students know more about who He is and what it means for them to be in relationship Him. Listen...in my spirit (I know that sounds weird...but it was like something was confirmed) it was like God was echoing a yes to everything I was praying about. I'm ready for God to fuel our lives so we can fill that auditorium with teenagers who are singing to a great and awesome God, learning how to live for Him, and connecting with new friends so they know that they're not alone in their Christian journey. 

If you're reading this and you're a NN student...be praying this week and see if this spoke something to your heart. I really believe that God is wanting to use NN (and all the other student ministries in Chattanooga) to bring MS/HS students into a real, life changing encounter with God. I have a few of you in mind that i'll be talking to over the next month. But don't wait on me to come talk with you. Find me and let me know that this is something you want to be a a part of.

It's time for you to begin leading by example. It's time for you to start seeing your school as an opportunity to be the Light of God. It's time for you to take a stand for your faith. It's time for you to raise the banner of Love and go to battle for the Kingdom of God!! This is only the beginning of your greatest adventure. 

Seek the Kingdom

Matthew 6:33- "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."

One of the new things we are doing as a staff this year @ City Church is taking one day each month (away from the office, our normal,expected duties of the day) and spend it with God...connecting with Him and listening for His voice. Purposefully devoting one day to God. What I love about this is how each of us will spend this day differently. Because the reality is, God chooses to speak to us in unique ways and the means we connect with Him will equally vary. 

As I was driving to my first location this morning this passage found in Matthew really stuck out to me. I must have read this scripture hundreds of times, but this morning it took on a whole new light. Let's set the tone here...Jesus is talking to his disciples and everyone else that's around him on this mountain side. I'm not sure how long he's been there teaching, but he's rockin out these spiritual truths like no one else has before. He's closing up some profound words on storing up treasure that will last forever, talk about birds, food, flowers, clothes and how we don't need to worry about them because the God who feeds the birds and clothes the lilies will do the same and more for us...His creation! 

Then Jesus says, "Seek the Kingdom!" What comes to your mind when you hear that? Anything...at all? 

For me, I find huge implications in this. When we begin to seek, look, search for God we begin to develop a God perspective or another way you could say it...develop a Kingdom mindset. We begin to notice the God things happening around us. I think sometimes we fail to see the important things going on. There's a lot taking place each day. Distracting things that will take your focus off God and put it else where. I want to challenge you to seek after God each day. Let this become a habit as we begin 2011. You'll be surprised at first when things begin to change, but after time you'll realize that God is faithful and true to those who belong to Him. Be on the look out where He's working in you, your family, at work, in your situation. Anticipate God to do the amazing in your life.  As you give each day your best, you can expect with great confidence that God will give His best.

C.S. Lewis Reflection

During my reflection time this morning I was reading a few verses from the Book of Daniel (12:1-4). I know for many of us, Christmas is a wonderful time of year where we see friends and family play boardgames, go to the movies, reminisce on Christmases past....and much more . But for some it can also be a little dreary at times] because it reminds us of moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas who won't be joining us around the table tomorrow for all the good tasting foods, laughter, kids running around showing off their new toys and hearing all the good 'ole stories we grew up loving to hear...

C.S. Lewis is one of greatest intellectual giants of Christian thought. I have a bible that has quotes from his writings throughout and this is the one that was by my reading this morning...

"What death is to each man, the Second Coming is to the whole human race."                                                    -from The World's Last Night

So tomorrow, when you think about those who aren't sitting in their usual spot, may this be an encouragement  to your heart in knowing their life is only just beginning. And because we celebrate the birth of Jesus we have all the reason to get excited about His return. We wait with eager anticipation all the while doing good in the name of Jesus by spreading the Good News of his love and grace to all peoples. 

Merry Christmas from the Hesterly's

Change...Change...a lot of Change

Over the past 3 months, students at NUNATION have been bringing pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and dollar bills to raise money to help build a well in Kenya, Africa. As Erin says, "Everyone deserves clean water!" I was amazed week and week to see my students and leaders rally around this cause and bring in their loose change. We met our goal and raised over $1,000 and 100% of it will go to help save hundreds of lives clear across the Atlantic.

Back in May, as I was sharing with the students and leaders @ NN about some of the things God had placed on my heart concerning the up-coming school year...providing an opportunity for NN students to make a global impact was one of them. I believe student ministries should be making an impact in their local communities as well as in the world. So with that understanding we decided NUNATION would be a student ministry that goes "GLOCAL" (totally ripped that word off from Scott Hodge...thanks man). 

Erin and I want to say a HUGE thanks to all our NN students and leaders for not only bringing your $$$ but letting this vision take hold of you in a way that compelled you to want to help and make this world better for those who need it. I know God will bless your sacrifice and faithfulness. 

The Sky is Blue

After picking up Micah from day care today, we were walking out side and Micah looked straight up, pointed and said really loud, "Blue." I replied, "You're right Micah the sky is blue!" On the way home I had this thought...what if more people noticed the obvious? When was the last time you got excited about the sky being blue? IT"S AMAZING!!!! We can go day in and day out, and live a life of roboticism (going through the motions = roboticism...I just know some of you want to do your robot voice...go ahead no one's around) and forget about all the amazing things happening around us. Before long, things can become boring and colorless. My prayer for you is that God would awaken your senses so you can begin living a life full of passion and adventure in your everyday life. The Sky is Blue! And that's worth getting excited about!

Shorts I only wear to bed...

The summer going into my 8th grade year at Fairfield Junior High, me and my friend Ryan Best went to Lou Henson's Fighting Illini Basketball Camp. We had a great time and later on in the B-ball season, for the first time in many years, we went to state and place 3rd. Well...during that camp I had bought an awesome pair of short and when I would put them on I felt like one of the NBA greats. Over the years, I got taller, put on some muscle and weight and wearing the shorts out on the court was just say...not really stylish and appropriate. As you can tell from the picture I still have the shorts after 18 years...and still wear them occasionally...(only to bed of course)!

I had them on the other night and this thought came to my mind...

• Is my leadership like this pair of shorts? Ineffective and outdated. Is it leaving the people I encounter each day just "blah" and colorless?
• Or is my leadership encouraging, helping them pursue their passions and see them grow in their relationship with God?
• I think many leaders, if not careful, can fall into this trap where they let their leadership get real comfy and overtime, like these shorts, lose it's appeal and effectiveness of what it/they were designed for. 
• Your leadership should always be evaluated for effectiveness and challenged to grow. The question you should be asking is...what am I doing to develop my personal leadership?
• Take some time to think about it. Are you spending any time developing your leadership, or have you let this part in your life get comfy and you now see yourself always relying on an influence that seems to get no where and has become blah to the people around you.
• It becomes your responsibility to see yourself grow. Read Blogs/magazines/books on your particular are of interest. Draw a picture or write a couple of sentences of how you want others to view your leadership. Be bold and ask someone you trust if they see your leadership as being effective. Rediscover your main reason/purpose for doing whatever it is you're doing (sometimes it just takes a little focus to reignite the God passions). Have fun. Learn. Go do it!