The 11 people who influenced my life the most in 2010

1.  Jesus!  No He is not dead but alive and left the greatest impact on my life by far!  If it wasn't for His strength, encouragement, compassion, love, joy, and just the plain fun of hanging with my best friend I would be nothing!  Yet in Him I am everything!


2. Heidi Elznic!  She is an incredible wife, cook, my BFF and the best mother I have ever seen!  If it wasn't for her believing in me and not letting me get away with mediocre, I wouldn't dare to risk! Your purity, passion, strength, character, and take no crap attitude has been God sent. Thanks for being YOU!  You know how to host the peace and presence of God in an incredible way!  Together there is nothing we can't do.  I love working side by side with you everyday!

3. My children: Israel (11), Corban (9), Shekinah (8), Zion (7)! Yes that's more than one, but hey, they are my kids so I can do that! Israel, you are my accountability in being a dad and a little spit fire, you're an amazing leader!! Corban, you are a creative genius who thinks outside the box, my best friend and more of a man than even some people 4 times your age!! Shekinah, your smile always brightens my day, you define purity and innosence, your sensitivity to God is admirable! Zion, you are so much like me it is scary, your are a standard bearer and you love with strength! To my children, the world is your playground and greatness is your calling!  You mold me, change me, strengthen  me, teach me, and never give up on me!

4. Andy Leenstra.  Your advice, wisdom, heart of a father, and friendship over the last year was heaven sent!  To find someone with the same desire and heart for transparent relationships is incredible! You model what relationship should look like in the body of Christ!  Thank-you for spiritually fathering me in relationship and being my friend!

5. Eric Dykstra.  Your wisdom for how to run a ministry and the boundaries to set around yourself are God sent!  I wish I could have learned some of this stuff early in ministry because it would have saved me some true heart ache.  Thank-you for caring about the little guys with big dreams!

6. Alan Langstaff.  You are a true spiritual father!  Thank-you for relationship, correction, grace, wisdom, and believing in people when others don't!  Thank you for taking the time to invest in young ministers to make us look like Jesus!  I love your Passion for JESUS!

7. Joesph Schlicting.  You are a true friend!  Thank you for being there for me and listening to me so many times on so many levels!  Your maturity and commitment to God, marriage, and family is admirable and worth following!  Your encouragement runs deep!  You rock!

8. Jon Davis.  You are an amazing friend! Thanks for keeping my family rightly aligned in the spine and spirit!  I truly could have not risked this last year without your involvement in my life! Thanks for always believing in me and pushing me to be my best!  You're an amazing back up preacher as well!

9. Jonathan and Tiffany Beukelman. What an amazing brother and sister I have! Love hanging out with you guys and your friendship and encouragement has been God sent!  Thanks for taking an interest in my children this last year! They need true Christians in their lives that do relationship well, even caring about them!  Your reward is great in heaven and on earth for caring about the little ones! (Mark 9:42)

10.  Mark Johnson.  10 years of ministry training I went through and would do it all again!  Thanks for giving me the start in launching a new church to reach people who were like me.  I'm grateful to have had you as a spiritual father for the last ten years, and teaching me about 5 fold ministry!

11. The Fusion.  Yes, there is more than one again but we were one in Christ this year!  I love all of you and we went through a lot together and have become tighter and stronger in Christ because of it!  You were there for each other and will be rewarded for this!  The way you embraced the vision and your heart for the city is to be applauded!  This next year we will bring heaven down and deliver a blow to hell!  I love you and will give my all for you!

Your Child's Greatness!

Not too long ago I was in a discussion about parenting and we were discussing the idea about raising your children according to their unique personality, life language traits (communication profile), strengths, and weaknesses.  Basic idea was each child being different and having different needs.

As I was preparing a sermon about parenting I came across the Verse:

Prov 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it. NASU

I have heard this verse taught in a way that seems to be negative to the child; to train them up to go in the way we desire!  It is a far too common mistake to train and teach our kids in what we like or want for them. Yet I feel one of the biggest mistakes we can make as a parent is to have a cookie cutter approach to child training; a one sizes fits all approach. Often what we see in parenting, and do as well, is a well rounded approach to parenting.  Although we need to spend the time training in all areas, it is a trend to spend more time and energy focusing on bettering the weaknesses of a child instead of maximizing his or her strengths. Yet as we spend more time working on their weaknesses we are teaching balance and not success!  One thing I have learned is that nothing is balanced and balanced people are seldom history makers in this thing called life. I have never met a well rounded person that is great at everything they do, and I haven't met a well rounded person who excels at just one thing in an epic way.  When we focus on taking our children's weakness from bad to mediocre, we are not developing their strengths which could make them world changers, all for the goal being “balanced”.

As I was looking through the verse in it's original Hebrew, I noticed it literally translated, “Train a child according to his way”.  This verse has more meaning than training a child by giving them good structure or sound instruction.  It also has another element: it is a customized approach of training based upon your child’s unique gift set, talents, strengths, and individual DNA.

In my studies on leadership, the common thread that covers most every trend is to work on your strengths.  Effective leaders spend their time training, investing, and focusing on other people’s strengths to make them successful! Yet very few parents take the time to invest in the place of their potential greatest influence, and what should be our 1^st priority, our children!  I've heard it said that mediocrity is mass-produced but success and excellence must be custom designed!

Just as God had a unique plan when He made you, He also has a unique plan for your child, not to be a carbon copy of you or anyone else! There is a special purpose for our kids and it's our job to help find that and "pull it out" of them.  It is our job to encourage and challenge them to be all that their strengths and gifting mix could be.  It is our job to encourage them to be world changers and never let them settle for average, balance, common, or mediocrity.  Your child can change history and you have the ability to lead them in that pursuit!  What an amazing and scary responsibility we have when we become a person of influence who is willing to lovingly and patiently mold another human being for greatness.