The Ministry of Impartation: Yoda and Luke Skywalker!

Happy Saturday!

I have a confession to make! Last night… Emily and I stopped by Dairy Queen… and I ordered the newest ice cream Blizzard: Girls Scouts Tagalongs Peanut Butter Patties. AMAZING! Everyone should go treat yourself before the weekend is over!

As you guys know, I’ve been suffering for more than a week with the H1N1 flu (the swine flu). It’s been pretty serious. I’ve coughed more these past eight days that all my other coughs added up for 20 years or more! So, when I woke up this morning, I really did not want to meet with anyone about anything. And I had ONE appointment on my schedule… one appointment that couldn’t be cancelled, so we met.

The appointment was with Ryan Huffer… 11:00am at my house! When Ryan left 6 hours later @ 5pm, I was HIGHER than I have been in a VERY LONG TIME!

What did Ryan and I have to meet about that could not be put off till next week? I’m so glad you asked!

Yesterday meeting with Ryan was HISTORICAL! I believe it meant more to both of us… meant more to GOD than so many of the meetings I’ve had over this past decade! It was a FIRST time… the very first time… a person has had the authentic humility and teachability to ask me to help them build a sermon. Well, a few other have mentioned it over the years… but it always felt as if they didn’t REALLY want me to TEACH them anything… even though I’m sure they thought they did.

You see UNTIL the STUDENT is REALLY REALLY READY… the TEACHER WILL NEVER EVER APPEAR! And Ryan Huffer has GROWN so MUCH over the years! I’ve always recognized that THE FORCE IS STRONG IN HIM. Ryan has all the giftedness and all the calling a person needs to change world history… but until now, he has not had the LEVEL of teachability one needs to TRUELY LEARN THE WAYS OF THE FORCE!

I guess thats a good thing, because until NOW… I don’t believe I had the confidence to REALLY IMPART TO AN APPRENTICE. People and circumstances have taken their toll on me… I’ve been beaten down until I haven’t felt like I have anything to give away. And then, a few weeks ago… I asked Ryan if he wanted to take one of the topics in my current sermon series and preach one SUNDAY.

Ryan accepted the invitation ONLY IF I WOULD HELP HIM BUILD THE MESSAGE… only if I would show him how I build messages. At first, I was like, “yeah right, what do I really have to teach anyone… blah blah blah (self pity).” I kind of blew it off because I didn’t really think he was serious anyway. I figured he was just humoring me.

Well, this week… on the week I suffered with the swine flue, Ryan was supposed to speak THIS SUNDAY. So, I had two options: 1. Either I tell him maybe next time and I wing a message myself for this Sunday morning… OR 2. I take the time to meet with Ryan, so that HE could preach for me thing Sunday.

Thank God, we met yesterday… and I HAD NO IDEA HOW MUCH LIFE THIS WAS GOING TO BRING TO ME! For the first time in my LIFE, I really felt like there was a guy sitting beside me who REALLY VALUED my life, and my character, and my gift… so much that he REALLY wanted me to teach him everything I know! Whether he meant it or not… God used that 6 hour meeting to CHANGE MY LIFE!

Together, we built a MOST TRIUMPHANT message script for this coming Sunday… The sermons series: You’re Better Than This? Tomorrows message: Keep Your Chin Up!

I believe that yesterday opened up a whole new ERA of opportunity for our ministry! It gave me the realization that GOD HAS DEPOSITED SOMETHING IN ME THAT HE WANTS OTHERS TO HAVE! Because of Ryan, I feel like all my years of abuse from others HAS BEEN WORTH IT ALL… this is what EVERY leader LONGS FOR… LEGACY! I’m so glad I did not throw in the towel… all the many times it would have been so easy to do so!

I learned two things about impartation through this:

1. There has to be a TEACHER… a person who has lived beyond a million deaths… a person who has dedicated his life to the maturing of his own character…. a person who has dedicated himself to a craft so much that he has mastered his craft to some degree… a person who has the confidence needed to boldly impart his mastery to others… a person who find more pleasure in seeing his student succeed then he does in his own successes… a person who can LEARN from his students!
2. There has to be a STUDENT… a person who has the calling… a person who recognizes that no matter how much potential he carries, he still NEEDS a teacher if he is ever to maximize that potential… a person who has grown in character to become HUMBLE and SECURE and TEACHABLE enough to ask for help, and really mean it with all his heart… a person who doesn’t mind honoring his teacher for certain aspects of his success!

There is so much more I could say on this subject, but I’m out of time… have a leadership conference in Richmond today! Tomorrow morning at 10am: Destiny Family Center… Ryan Huffer is preaching-Keep Your Chin Up! It’s going to be LIVE and its going to be AMAZING! I hope to see you there in person or on the webcast! Have a super day!