I recently started reading the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Great read. As you can infer, the authors describe the characteristics of ideas that last and make an inpact. One of those characteristics is simplicity.
To illustrate this they describe a predicament in which the U.S. Army regularly found themselves: investing enormous amounts of energy in detailed planning for the next objective, only to have those plans become useless once contact with the enemy was made or an unexpected weather pattern emerged or something else unpredictable occurred. So in the 1980s they implemented a crisp, plain-talk statement at the top of every order called the Commander’s Intent (CI).
The CI doesn’t say how, doesn’t bother with unnecessary detail. It just states the end result: hold this bridge, take this hill, etc. The remaining planning is left to those fulfilling the orders in their context. As the authors put it, “The CI never specifies so much detail that it risks being rendered obsolete by unpredictable events…Commander’s Intent manages to align the behavior of soldiers at all levels without requiring play-by-play instructions from their leaders.” (p26-27)
The parallels to our mission as Jesus-followers are clear.
I often refer to and have heard the Great Commission referred to as our Commanding Officer’s last standing orders. Certainly it also qualifies as our Commander’s Intent. Jesus describes the desired outcome, assigns the task, and then leaves it to us in our place on the globe and in our era of history to execute the order in the power of His Spirit and the wisdom of His Word.
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
That’s an idea that’s made to stick. How are you obeying your Commander’s Intent this week?
Categorized in Leadership, Missions, Reading and Theology
Alright, it’s embarassing that my only posts lately have been my monthly Focus letters, but anyway…here it is. 
Published on Sunday, October 4, in the Focus…
Hello Outlook Family,
I pray you are drawing nearer to Jesus today and trusting Him with all your cares.
I want to take a moment and update you on some recent developments regarding our church staff offices. To further reduce expenses and centralize our operations, this month we will be migrating our offices out of our Oaklandon Road campus. Office staff (Rhonda Harris, Jen Hunziker, Becky LaRavia, and Betty Watkins) will be joining Lee Jones and Randy Julian in our second floor “office suite” J on the Outlook campus.
Our ministers will be working from home, from the Fire Escape student center, and at Outlook. We will also establish a “Minister on Campus” schedule that will keep our ministerial staff accessible at the Outlook campus. Also, we’ll let you know when our new phone number will take effect.
A couple of weeks ago, you received a letter from me introducing you to our upcoming capital stewardship campaign. Much more communication about this adventure is being prepared and will be ready later this month. In the meantime, if you have any questions at all about the campaign, don’t hesitate to contact me, our Administrative Minister Mark Watkins, or our campaign director, Tom Martens.
I’m still glowing from the Overflow Weekend, and I’m looking forward to our Youth Sports Recognition Sundays, our Men’s Retreat (still time to sign up!), filling shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, and on top of all that…our Worship Arts Minister Josh Weber will be preaching on October 25. What a month!
Hands on the plow and eyes on the prize,
Rob
Categorized in Ministry and OCC
Published in the Focus on Sunday, September 6, 2009…
Good Morning Outlookers!
My prayer for you is that you are strong in the Lord as you follow Him daily.
September looks to be an historic month for us at OCC as we experience our second annual Overflow Weekend. Many thanks to Wayne and Lee Ligocki, leaders of our community outreach team, Mike Avey, Chris Ball, Jeff and Pam Greer, Cathy Hortin, Randy Julian, Robin Martens, Janna Mitchell, and Julie Sautter.
Overflow Weekend is all about serving our community, making a difference in the lives of others, and sharing Jesus’ love. It’s really one big Jesus lovefest! We want to overflow our of our church campus and let the joy and love of Jesus overflow out of our hearts and lives and splash onto others.
As Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 3:12:
“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else…”
There are so many different opportunities to get involved in Overflow Weekend, definitely something for everybody. I hope you’ll jump in and sign up for a service project or a prayer project. Overflow Weekend works best when all of us join in!
Our sermon series for September is called THE JESUS CHALLENGES. Jesus loved and accepted people, but He also challenged them. In this series we are going to examine Jesus’ challenges to take our faith seriously, hear what He says a Jesus-follower truly is and does, and be motivated to accept that challenge.
Hands to the plow and eyes on the prize,
Rob
Categorized in Ministry, OCC and Preaching
Published on Sunday, August 2 in the Focus…
Hello Outlook Family,
I pray this letter finds you at peace, not because your life is so easy (I know it’s not) but because God is so good (we know that’s true).
August is a great month for me. Seventeen years ago August 22, I married my Renee! Of course, August is also back-to-school month and our routines begin to return to normal.
I’d urge you to make this month your back-to-lifegroup month, too. Lifegroups are such a great way to connect with others and grow in your faith. We have many and are always looking to start more. If you’re interested in either joining or starting a lifegroup, contact Connection Minister Robyn Priest. She’d love to hear from you.
Robyn will be hosting an experience on August 9 called “A Taste of Lifegroups” at which you can learn more about what lifegroups are like. You can check out more details in this issue of the Focus.
Today we’re wrapping up our sermon series that’s had us navigating the entire Bible. Next week we’ll begin a three-part series called “Being Christian in a Confused Culture.”
I mention this because I want to let parents know that some of the topics I’ll be addressing in this series, while important for us to tackle, are not appropriate for children below middle school age. If you have younger children you’re used to bringing to worship, please take advantage of Camp Outlook during this series.
This series will run August 9, 16, and August 30. August 23 will be Student Sunday and we will enjoy worship from our students and hear from our new Student Minister Matt Pineda.
Have a great August and keep inviting people to church!
Hands to the plow and eyes on the prize,
Rob
Categorized in Culture, Family, Ministry, OCC and Preaching
I’m in class this week, which means I’m away from home.
I thoroughly enjoy learning, and earning this doctoral degree has long been a goal of mine (I’m over halfway finished!). But, I really despise being away from Renee and our kids.
I miss them so much and can’t wait to get home. Hope’s little voice on my voicemail telling me she misses me is almost more than I can take.
I hope you have a family that loves you. It’s a great part of life as a human being on this planet. If you don’t, God always has His church family ready to love you.
This world and the evil within it can take away many good things from us, but God is a Provider. He gives and redeems and restores.
The joy I will feel this Friday when I kiss my wife and hug my kids will be truly wonderful. More wonderful by far is the embrace of my God that never leaves me and the fellowship of the Church that never wanes. I hope you have that. If you do, enjoy it and thank God for it. If you don’t, I’ll be glad to make some introductions.
Categorized in Family, Life and Theology
