Sharper Together
Sharper Together
Pastor Tom Lane
In this episode, we sit down with Pastor Tom Lane from Gateway Church. Tom Lane oversees the Outreach Ministry of Gateway Church, including The King’s University, Gateway Global, Kingdom Business Leaders, and Gateway Church Network. He works directly with the executive team to carry out the vision and values of the church in each of these areas. For more information on Pastor Tom please Click Here!
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Tom Lane: [00:00:28] Another thing that I think the enemy tries to convince us of is God doesn't care. God doesn't see God doesn't he doesn't he or he's not. He's not your advocate. And here's what I believe is true. The God who has a purpose in all things in our life, that's what Romans eight tells us, you know, God will cause everything in our life to work together for.
Good, for those who are called according to his purpose, [00:01:00] everything means everything.
Michael Lee: [00:01:02] Welcome to the sharper together podcast. This is a show built on the Proverbs 27 17 principle. But as iron sharpens iron. So one man sharpens another. It is our hope that listening to real life stories and Q and a, from leaders of all walks of life, that should be encouraged, empowered, and equipped in your walk with Christ.
Today's guest is pastor Tom lane. Pastor Tom oversees the outreach ministry of gateway church, including the King's university gateway global kingdom business leaders and gateway church network. During his time at gateway, Thomas served as executive senior pastor for 12 years in the Dallas campus pastor for two years before assuming his current role is vocational ministry experience spans over 38 years serving in Trinity fellowship church in Amarillo and gateway church in South Lake, Texas.
He's written several books, including his newest out now tested and approved 21 lessons for life and ministry. Tom and his wife, Jan have been married since [00:02:00] 1972 and are blessed with four married children and 15 grandchildren. I'm your host, Michael Lee. Let's jump into today's conversation and stay sharper together.
Tom, thanks so much for joining me today. Welcome to the show.
Tom Lane: [00:02:21] Thank you, Michael. I'm glad to be here. Well,
Michael Lee: [00:02:24] I'm glad to have you. This episode is actually by the time the airs will be in 2021. And so I want to ask you just the first question. How's it feel put in 2020 in the room,
Tom Lane: [00:02:34] we, uh, we recently did a, uh, a staff Christmas party and I pulled out my mask and it was a virtual Christmas party.
So I pulled out my mask and I. Waves up and down. And I said, okay, everybody grabbed your mask and let's say goodbye to 2020, and let's give 21. Notice 21, you better behave yourself. If you act like 20, we're skipping over you and going into 20, 22
Michael Lee: [00:02:58] I'm down with that plan, let's [00:03:00] just, I'm worried 21 is going to be worse.
I guess. We'll have to leave that to the Lord. Tom, when you think back to your 18 to 20 year old self, what did you think you'd be doing
Tom Lane: [00:03:11] today? Uh, I didn't think I would be 38 years in ministry, 18 years old. I was graduating from high school and in that year, my dad and some partners bought a business.
There's a wholesale paper distribution business, and they bought 11 warehouse locations in the Midwest from Montana to Texas. And I went to college thinking as a believer. I was two years. I gave my heart to the Lord when I was 16. So I thought I know what I want to do. I want to, I want to be a Christian businessman.
I want to use the platform of my work. To influence people for Christ. And the way I wanted to do that was to run my dad's business. And I went to college with the idea that I'm going to prepare [00:04:00] myself. And I believe that that was what God wanted for me. So I went to college and came out of college, went to work for my dad with that in mind at, at 18, I would've thought by this time in my life, I would have been the CEO and the president.
Of my dad's company and I would've have had, uh, a platform of influence to impact people's lives in the business arena. If you
Michael Lee: [00:04:23] could turn back time to that, what would you tell your 18 to 20
year
Tom Lane: [00:04:26] old self Tom? You don't have to worry about making it yourself, just do what is right every day and God will, will direct your path.
I love the proverb, the mind of man plans his way, but God directs his steps and. I think our life as I look back on my life now, I think it's, it's filled with God moments, convergent points, where your experience, your training, your gifts converge with an opportunity [00:05:00] and you're faced with. Uh, do I believe this was God or not?
And will I say yes or no? Yeah.
Michael Lee: [00:05:05] It really goes back to just rested in Christ. What would you say to that person who maybe is a Christian businessman? Like you were talking about? There may be sitting there thinking I'm not a pastor. I'm not really doing ministry, but I mean, they are. So what would you say to that person who is in the marketplace ministry?
Who's listening. Well, I would
Tom Lane: [00:05:22] tell them that God has a purpose for all of our lives. And that purpose is to be an influence for him. You know, Matthew five says, let your light so shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify God who is in heaven. And so you don't have to be religious.
It's not about. Getting them to join your church or join your denomination. You just have to wear your relationship with God in a way that people look and see the difference. And if you live your life based on biblical priorities, people, when they ask, why are you different? You'll be able to respond because [00:06:00] I live my life with a commitment.
To a higher purpose to a greater cause.
Michael Lee: [00:06:05] Yeah. That's great advice. What's something that you wish you had known when you first came to faith in the Lord?
Tom Lane: [00:06:10] Uh, I wish I would have been more aware that God in his sovereign nature, that God is intimately involved in every aspect of life. I grew up in a, in a Presbyterian home.
And my, my model of, of God preach being saved was we serve God on Sunday. We, we were reverent. We tried to be good people, but Monday through Saturday and we, we lived for herself we'd we were responsible to make the best out of our life. And, uh, when I made a commitment to Christ, everything in my life changed, it was like, Oh, so I give up the right to run my own life.
And I say yes to him, and it took me a long time to [00:07:00] realize that I'm not responsible to make things happen in my life. I'm just responsible to follow the path that God sets out for me. And I think if, if I could have told myself that earlier, it would have been an easier process. I would have been less anxious and less worried.
Michael Lee: [00:07:19] Do you have any practical steps for someone who's listening? Who goes, you know, I live, my life looks more Christian on a Sunday versus every other day of the week. Do you have any practical steps you would give on how to put him in every aspect of your life? Well,
Tom Lane: [00:07:33] I think that I'm a normal human being in that I try and be responsible with the things that are important in my life.
And sometimes responsibility comes with it makes me feel like I have to worry if something. Isn't in its right place or doing the right thing. I think what the simple step would be to say, pray about everything. Pray earnestly. Even when you, [00:08:00] your eyes don't see, or your understanding, does it wrap around it, pray and trust God, it's not irresponsible.
To just acknowledge. I can't, I can't fix this. I can't change this. I I've done what I can do. And now it's God's responsibility to do what he can do. And if we really, really embrace that, we deal with the things that are on our plate today, even though we may be aware of what's coming tomorrow or next week, uh, we leave those things in God's hands.
And, you know, when, when scripture tells us to be anxious for nothing, I have found that to be difficult. I'm anxious about a lot of things, but Michael, if we think of it this way, I remember when I was a kid grew up in Nebraska and in the summer we'd I was on a road trip with my parents. We'd look out the down the road and the heat from the [00:09:00] road would create a Mirage.
It looked like there was a Lake. But we were getting ready to drive into, or there be something you know, there. And I think our life, the horizon of our life at any given time has a number of things, four or five different things that are on the horizon and they appear to be real. They're they're like the, the Mirage at the end of the road on those summer days.
And the tricky thing is you don't know which one is real. You don't know if any of them are real, they all appear to be real. And you know, I'd say to my dad, dad, dad, there's, there's water down there. And he said, should I know don't, that's a Mirage. You wait, when we get there, it won't be there. And I went, what?
And he said, yeah, it's created by the heat that is rising from the road. And he tried to explain it to me. I didn't get it, but I mean, it. What he said was true. And what I've found is the [00:10:00] struggle of the things that present themselves on the horizon of my life that want to want me to be anxious. I don't know which ones are real or not.
And so I, I think about them and, uh, it causes me to activate faith. To say, well, Lord, I don't know what I'm going to do about this, but I ask you to give me wisdom. I asked you to guide me. I asked you to take this and work it out in the way that you want. And the effect of it has been in my life to test, to test my, my heart, to test my commitment, uh, the character of my life or my integrity.
And when the test is passed, for the most part, they go away. I'll give you an example. After I graduated from college, I went to work for my dad and I was transferred. So our corporate offices were in Omaha and I was transferred to Oklahoma city. And I was in the purchasing side of our business. I was the assistant merchandise manager.
So I bought [00:11:00] paper that we sold in our Southwest division. And one day I'm sitting at my desk and one of my dad's business partners, the vice president of that region came to me and he said, Hey, Tom, I want you to order a, a rail car of paper from one of our mill sources. And I want you to stipulate it for state contract.
We had the state contract to supply the state of Texas with, with copy paper and printing papers. And he said, I want you to stipulate in a state contract. And I said, okay, what department is it going to? And he said, Oh, it's not going to go to, uh, the state actually, uh, we'll take delivery here. I've got a customer on I'm bidding on a project and I want to get pricing.
They walked away from my desk and I thought that's a lie. That's I can't, I I'll be the one that signs the purchase order that says it's state contract and that the state does audit these things. And if they [00:12:00] come back and say, well, now why, where did this thing go? And, and it started an internal wrestling.
It was out on the horizon of my life. I hadn't even ordered the paper yet. It hadn't even been delivered. And yet I was thinking. Okay, I can I do this? Am I going to do this? Will I compromise my integrity? If I don't it'll embarrass, my dad may cost me my job. What am I going to do? And I, I stewed on it for most of the morning, just, and finally, after lunch, I decided it doesn't matter.
I'm not going to do this. I'm going to have to tell him I cannot order this paper. He'll have to order it himself. And he could have. You know, you don't have to order it himself. And when I made that decision internally, I said, Nope, I'm not I'm, I'm going to go in and tell him I can't do it. I mean, minutes after I'd made that decision, he stopped by my desk and he said, Hey, did you order that paper yet?
And I said, no, I haven't yet. And he said, nevermind, I've decided to go [00:13:00] a different way. Nevermind. And just like that, what appeared on the horizon fell off the horizon. But in those hours, something happened in my heart. It was like God said, I'm just going to check and see what your, what your commitment is here, what your integrity is, or what will you trust me?
Or are you trusting in your dad? You're in your name and in your dad's ownership in your business and where are you, Tom? Where's your heart today? And I went, Oh, thank you, Lord. I guess I passed that test. I didn't realize it was a test when it was there. It was something on the horizon of my life. But when it worked itself out that way, I realized, Oh, it was a test.
And I found as I worked my way through life that many times and things that give me anxiety are really just opportunities to pass a test. And the test is what I trust. God will I stand. [00:14:00] And I, I think of so many biblical examples of things that happen exactly that same way. Michael, think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the story.
These men that were told, you're going to bow down and worship Nebuchadnezzar are, we're going to throw you into the fire. And they said, we serve God and he's able to save us. But even if he doesn't save us, we will not bow down to, to worship you. We worship the living. God. And the King was so infuriated.
He stoked the fire, the furnace hotter than ever before. And he threw him in, they went in thinking logic says we're going to be fried to a crisp, we won't survive, but it didn't matter to them. The test was, will you trust God more than you trust the circumstances of what you know and understand? We know the story.
There was a fourth man in the fire. When they were thrown into the fire, [00:15:00] the people, the men that threw them into the fire actually were consumed by the fire and the King. She's the fourth man in the fire. And he calls to these three men and shirts come out, come out of there. And they walked out of the fire, not even with, with smelling of smoke, their faith, their trust in God is what saw them through that.
Most anxious of moment in their life. And it's been true in my life as
Michael Lee: [00:15:26] well. That answer and Tom you've written several books and we're going to talk about a new book. You've got coming out in a little bit, but why you were given that answer. And I say this jokingly, but also seriously. I think that you've got another booking.
Yeah. You could even title it something like don't chase the Mirage, encouraging people using biblical examples, not to chase the Mirage. I think that would be a fantastic read.
Tom Lane: [00:15:49] I'll I'll take that. Take that down. Most of my books have come at the suggestion of someone, a friend or a call saying, Hey, you got to write a book on that.
[00:16:00] Well,
Michael Lee: [00:16:00] there you go. There you go. I won't even ask for royalty, Tom. What's your favorite story about your life that you love
Tom Lane: [00:16:09] to tell people? Oh, there's so many Michael, you know, just talking about convergent points. I look back on my life. I grew up in a religious home, as I was saying, we went to church all the time, but I knew God only in a religious way.
And it wasn't until junior in high school, I was an athlete. I played football, basketball and baseball. I was in study hall one day. My baseball coach said to me, Hey lane, who, who are you taking to the dance? And I said, coach, I don't know, I don't have anybody. And they said, you ought to take Jan Frazier.
And I said, she was a great girl. Beautiful. I said, she, she not got to go with me coach. And he said, she's in my homeroom lane. I'm telling you, just ask her to the dance. So I asked her if she went with me, we had a great time [00:17:00] and I'm walking her to the door after the dance. And she said, Hey, uh, we have, uh, an event at my church on Friday night.
Would you, uh, would you go with me? Well, I wasn't an anti-God. I just, I just didn't go to church at that point. I was old enough. I was working on Sunday and our church only had service on Sunday morning. I said, yeah, I'd love to. And it turns out that the event was a youth for Christ rally and there was a guy that gave his testimony.
I didn't know what that was. He was just telling him about his life. And he was an athlete and I listened intently. And when he got done talking about how God had impacted his life and how Jesus had come in and redeemed him from a shin filled life. And he said, if you want to know more about that, come down here right now.
Let me, let me pray with you. And I just stepped out and walked down. So on the second date of now the woman that I've been married to for 48 years, I got saved and my life has been filled with instances where these encounters, where God [00:18:00] has come into my life. So I love to tell those encounters and here's, here's one of my favorite.
So I was working for my dad and I was living in Oklahoma city and a friend of mine. We were involved in a church and a Sunday school class. And a friend of mine said, Hey, you know what? You ought to, uh, you go to work for IBM. And I laughed. And I said, yeah, right. You know, I thought that IBM's not looking for guys like me.
And they said, he said, no, really I'm sure we have some openings. Would you be okay if I put your name in? I went sure. Like there's no way, but yeah, sure. That's fine. So I get a call from a guy who, uh, wants to arrange a time for me to come in and interview. And there were 11 people that they were interviewing to fill two positions in their mainframe computer division.
And so I went through a series of about six or seven interviews and tests and different things. And all the time, I'm thinking, God, I'm not smart enough to figure out if this is good. If this is right, if this is what you want me to do [00:19:00] or not, do I need you to guide me? And so Lord, I'm asking you. To speak.
And if this is not what you have for me, that I need you to close this door, because if I'm offered the opportunity to work for IBM, it's a platform that I could never have imagined. I might have. I'm going to say yes and believe it's you. So at each interview, like they said, okay, I want you to come back to another interview and would you be willing to take this test?
Yes, I'll take this test. So it got down out of the 11, there were three of us to fill the two positions, the final interview process. They came and I was interviewing with the regional general manager out of Oklahoma city, vice president for IBM. So I'm the first one called into the interview and it's about a 45 minute interview.
And the end of the interview, he goes, okay, Tom, you're one of my guys. He said, within the next two weeks, I'll be back to you with a firm written offer. And I left the there thinking I cannot believe I'm going [00:20:00] to go to work for IBM. I hadn't told my dad I'd been interviewing for a position with IBM at all, then told him any about the, anything about the interviews.
So I went back to the office and called my dad and we had a company watch line. And so I told him that I'd been interviewing with IBM and I was told today, they're going to offer me a job, but I'm going to take it. And to my dad's credit, he. Uh, he didn't act like a boss. He acted like a father. And he said, uh, asked me questions.
Like, so, um, what will you do? And how much will they pay? How does Jan feel about this? And I answered his questions and he said, well, I've always told you, you don't have to do what I'm doing. You need to do what you feel is the best thing in your life. And I said, well, I've been praying about this a lot, dad.
And I feel like this is what God wants me to do. And then he said, okay. And, uh, A week goes by and I don't have my offer letter second week goes by. And this was before the days of, you know, email like we have today or text [00:21:00] messaging or anything like that. And, and so I think what if he, what if he emailed this to me and it got lost in the mail, you know, he's waiting for me to respond.
And I don't, I don't know that I haven't received them the mail. So I called him and he said, Oh, Hey Tom, how are you doing? It was great to interview you. And, uh, he said, you know, I, I really. Can explain things, but I know I told you that I'd be back to you with an offer. He said, but I, I offered the job to the other two guys and he said, Hey, you would be great at IBM.
Uh, let me put your name in for another position. And I respectfully, so, you know, thank you so much. It's been a really an honor to, to be able to interview, but I'm good. Thank you. And I hung up and I thought, well, God, I don't know what you have for me, but apparently it's not an IBM. Cause I asked you to direct my steps and even in the face of a vice president telling me he would give me an offer.
I didn't get an offer. Two [00:22:00] weeks later, I was within the month. I won't say exactly two weeks. I don't remember exactly, but within the month I was transferred in my dad's company to a sales territory in Amarillo, Texas. I moved there thinking I'd be there for two years and. There's these kind of moments. I can just tell you a story after story of God's encounter in my life and in these things.
But, so I moved, moved there, thinking I'd be there two years, two years turned into four years and my dad and his partner sold the business. We found a church. We were involved in a church and we were sent out from that church to start a church. And I'm thinking, that's awesome. I'm going to be here a couple of years.
Well, then my dad sells the business that I'm thinking. Okay. Now, what am I going to do? I'm 30 years old. Um, uh, I'm got a future in front of me and I thought I was going to run my dad's company. And my dad is telling me no, no, Tom, they have plans for you. You, you, you've got a great future. And the new company that's buying this.
[00:23:00] And I get approached by the church that I helped start by this time it was four years old and it was about a thousand people and they needed a business administrator. And I thought, well, I guess I could do that for a couple of years. My degree college degree was in counting. That's what I could, I can do that, but I don't really want to do that.
I'm a business guy. And most churches that I had known of at that point were they were under vision. They were under led, they were under resource and I thought I'd rather earn income and give it to the church and to the work that it does, then be a part of it. You know, I want, I want to give my life to something that matters.
That's doing something in the world. That's changing the world. And the pastor asked me if I'd go to lunch. And when I went to lunch, He starts unfolding his vision the way he sees the church. And it was the first time I'd ever talked to any pastor that had a vision that I, at the end of it, I went, [00:24:00] you know what, I'd give my life for that.
And he said, I need help. And I said, well, I'm in, I mean, you know, I'm, I'm a part of the church. And he said, no, I, I need help. And I said, what do you mean you need help? He said, I need you to come do this with me. Would you, would you come. And be our business administrator. Anyway, that was, shall I made the transition from business into ministry thinking, well, okay, okay.
I'll do this for a couple of years and then I'll go back to business. But that was 38 years ago. And filled with those convergent moments. God has led my life.
Michael Lee: [00:24:35] Yeah. I love those stories that really. It just shows you the importance of not worrying and that God is truly going to direct our steps. Tom, we're going to switch gears a little bit here, and I want you to talk about a season in your life.
If you don't mind, that was really difficult for you. And what did God teach you in that season?
Tom Lane: [00:24:52] Yeah, so I think there, I firmly believe that life is lived in seasons. I [00:25:00] personally believe that there's something there it's not from, but it's some, something like seven years. Increments seven year seasons.
And you might be in a, a rainy season or you might be in a drought, or you might be in a, literally, there are just like, there are seasons in our year. There are seasons in our life. And when you're in a difficult season, it doesn't matter. My difficulty parallels yours. That's not a comparative, you know, I've never lost a child.
For instance, I have four married kids. I have 15 grandchildren. I don't know what it would be like to be in a season where you're grieving the loss of a child. My story doesn't compare to that, that season, but I, I think that there are some principles I've learned as I've navigated seasons in my life. So here's a story with Michael.
Uh, [00:26:00] I've been working for. Um, the church as business administrator, I was administrator business administrator. Then I became an administrative pastor. Then I became pastor over pastoral care. Then I became the executive pastor. Well, it was about maybe eight or 10 years into my ministry time. And we had bought a, uh, building a Quonset hunt, but had been an old roller skating rink.
And we were converting it to a youth building and the construction took longer and cost more than we expected. And when we started, I took on the project is sort of overseeing it. We had a construction manager that reported to me, worked on our staff. And so as it drew on. The senior pastor said to me, uh, let's wrap this up, Tom.
This is over budget. It's over time. And I said, yeah, I agree. I know. And so I went to the construction manager and I said, Hey, we need to wrap this thing up. And he said, okay. [00:27:00] And a couple of days later, he comes to me. So yeah, we have a problem. And I said, what's the problem? And he said, Uh, well, we, uh, we need a grease trap and we don't have a grease trap and the city is not going to give us, uh, a permit to operate our cafe without it.
And I said, okay, how much does that cost? So he told me, and I said, I said, okay, do that. And no more. So they're digging up the front yard to put in this grease trap in the waistline and, and the senior pastor drives by. And he comes into my office when he gets to the church and he goes, The Tom, what are they doing?
I said, I know, I know. And I told him the situation, he said, okay, do that. And no more. I said, I got it. No problem. So a couple of days later, they're putting the tables into the cafe and there, there a table that it fixes itself to the wall with an angle bracket supporting the table. So there's. Leg room underneath.
And he showed to me, Hey, we have a problem. And I said, what's the problem [00:28:00] now? And he said, well, we don't have any backing in the wall for these tables. And if I attach the table, they're just going to pull out. I said, well, what's the solution? He said, well, we need to put a Wayne's coating, uh, a paneling up about three feet on the wall all the way around the wall and attach the tables to that paneling.
And I said, well, how much does that cost? And he told me, and I said, okay, No more do that, but no more. We got to we're wrapping this thing up. Well, the back part of the building had been converted into a basketball gymnasium and it was done. And we, we met as a staff at lunch to play basketball. And so I was, I was walking into the locker room and the senior pastor was in there changing his clothes.
And he, he had gone through where they were doing work in the, uh, putting the tables in and he goes, Tom, What don't they get about stopping? I mean, what, what is going? So I told him and he said, okay, no more. So the next [00:29:00] day it was an elders meeting and he started the elders meeting by saying, uh, fellows. I think we have a problem.
And we, we have a problem with our construction manager. He doesn't get what it means to stop, and I think we need to fire him. And, and while he's doing this, I'm thinking, well, wait a minute, I'm the one who approved everything he's done. I don't think the problem is with him. I think it's with me. And so the conversation is going around.
We need to fire this guy and it's, you know, it's sort of whipping up into a fringy of yeah, yeah. You know, this guy doesn't know what he, what he's doing and he's cost us a lot of money. I raised my hand and it's like, what Tom? And I said, well, I don't think your problems with him. I think it's with me. I said, what?
And I said, yeah, I've approved all that he's done. And so then the conversation turned toward me and you know, why am I not doing what I, what I'm supposed to be doing? And the scrutiny kind [00:30:00] of irritated me. It irritated me to the point that there's a guy sitting next to me, one of the elders and he leans over to me and he says, Hey, Tom, rapid up.
And I said, Oh, shut up. And I started thinking, you know what? This was, this wasn't in my job description. When this year started, I took it on. They think they can do a better job have at it. I'm going to quit. And then I thought, no, no, no, I don't think I'm going to quit. I think I'm, I'm going to call a few of my friends, my elder friends.
And I'm going to tell my side of this story. What does she who's who's right. Who's wrong. And in the middle of this is all internal thoughts that are going on while the meeting is going on and I'm being corrected in the meeting. The Lord kind of breaks into my thinking says, are you going to let me correct?
You, Tom. I went, what? You know, Lord, this is Tommy. You're your faithful servant here. I mean, you can correct me anytime you want. And he said, no, I can't. [00:31:00] I've been trying to correct you and you won't let me. And I went, what, and in the midst of all of this, you know, God establishes all authority in our life.
Every, every boss, every reason, every circumstance, no matter that the good ones, the difficult ones that, you know, the, the reality is as simple as this may seem I could have when the project manager came to me and said, Hey, we, we're not going to get a. Occupancy permit for the cafe. If we don't have this grease trap, I can say, okay, hold on.
And I could have gone back to the senior pastor and said, I know you told me to quit, but here's the situation. And I think he would have said, okay, tell him to do that no more. And then when he came to me and said, we need to fix the backing in the walls, I'd say, okay, hold on. Then I go back to the senior pastor.
Instead I made the decisions on my own. And that was my, the error. That was my error is that I took matters onto my own. If I'm a man under authority, then I need to follow [00:32:00] instructions and I need to, uh, submit under the authority. And here's the thing, Michael, that God really spoke to my heart in that he said, Tom, if I can't correct you in this, I can't trust you with what's ahead.
And I went, okay, Lord, I submit to you. I want to be corrected by you. I want to learn what I need to learn that year. So I was, I was in full-time ministry there. I was a part of the church for 27 years. I was on staff for 22 and it was the only year in 22 years that I was on staff that I'd, I did not get a full, glowing review and a full merit increase.
It was from a work standpoint. It was. Embarrassing to be corrected by the, my fellow elders. It was embarrassing feeling like I'd been misunderstood. Uh, but God corrected me. The church [00:33:00] in Amarillo was about 8,000 at the time. And wasn't very many years later that we became part of. Planting. We were friends with Robert Morris.
We became a part of planting gateway church in the Dallas Fort worth area. And you know, in the third year, the end of the third year of gateways involvement, I, I moved down here to help, uh, in the development of gateway. I wouldn't have been a part of any. I've been here now for 16 years and what I've seen God do in these 16 years.
It was absolutely miraculous, but if God couldn't have corrected me, he couldn't have trusted me with what he had for me here. So all difficult circumstances, they're learning the lessons that God wants to watch to use the benefits. And here's, here's the final thing. I would say, Michael, whenever you're faced with a difficult situation, what the enemy [00:34:00] wants to tell us is get used to it.
This situation is never going to change. This is the way it's going to be for the rest of your life. And that's like in the middle of a very hot Texas summer, you know, you're in 20, 20 straight days of a hundred degree weather, and you're thinking this is never going to be over. We're going to be in a hundred degree days for the rest of our life.
Well, we know that's not true. This season will come to an end fall. We'll be here cooler days will come. But in the middle of that, if you live your life thinking, you know what. I'm never going to have another cool day in my life. I'm never, always going to be this stifling heat. You orient yourself. You, you make decisions that are, will not benefit you in the current season.
And won't take you into the new season in the middle of these things you need to say, okay, Lord, I trust in you. In the middle of the season, I, I leaned on, you helped me to [00:35:00] learn to benefit from what I need to in this season. And prepare myself for the new season that you're leading me
Michael Lee: [00:35:07] into. Great. And it takes a lot of integrity to, to say, Hey, no, I'm the guy that you should be upset with when, when the lions are going after the other one.
So my up question on that, that I thought of while you're talking and you, you might've just answered it just now. So if you did feel free to say that, but I was going to follow up with, what would you say to the person. Who currently works under a difficult boss and go into work for them. It's just a
Tom Lane: [00:35:34] drain.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, w you know what I had said earlier, I think we need to pray about everything. I think that if you're in a difficult situation, uh, another thing that I think the enemy tries to convince us of is God doesn't care. God, doesn't see a God doesn't he doesn't hear. He's not, he's not your advocate.
And here's what I believe is true. [00:36:00] God, who has a purpose in all things in our life. That's what Romans eight tells us, you know, God will cause everything in our life to work together for. Good. For those who are called according to his purpose, everything means everything. Not just the good stuff, not the stuff that we understand.
And so when I'm in a difficult situation like that, I pray, I pray and I say, Lord, help me to learn what you want me to learn. Help me to learn how to serve a difficult boss, helped me to, to walk in humility, uh, because I know that you give grace to the humble and you exalt the humble, but you resist the pride.
Uh, the prideful. And so Lord help, help me, help me to do this. I asked you, and what I believe in that is that whenever I've learned my lesson, whenever I built the endurance that I need, because that's what [00:37:00] difficult circumstances do is they, they create endurance in our life. And when I've built that endurance gender to my life, then either my boss will be removed.
Or I'll be changed, promoted, whatever is needed and you know, a generous thing to me. And that I've found some of the most difficult bosses, the ones that I'm tempted to vilify and hate. I find after I've learned my lesson and moved on, they're the ones that have been my strongest supporter. And they're the ones that I wanted to hate to kick under the, kicked to the curb and get rid of they, they become the ones that they've, they've seen the fruit of my life.
And my, my diligence in serving them and they become, they become a great advocate and truthfully, they become the greatest coaches are the ones that you go. I learned the most working for that difficult [00:38:00] person that I can take into these new seasons in my life. It's really
Michael Lee: [00:38:04] iron sharpening iron. And you think about it that friction, Tom, what is something, what is God teaching you right now?
Tom Lane: [00:38:11] Well, you'd never arrive. At a place of learning life is I love the example. I remember from Vince Lombardi, the great coach of the green Bay Packers. I heard the story he told was he got professional football players together at the beginning of the season, and he had a football on his hand and he said, men, this is a football.
We're going to go back to the basics. You may think, you know everything about football, but we're going to start with the very basics. This is a football and you know, I'm reminded again that no one is immune. You don't get to a place of saying, you know what? I've I've fought that battle. I don't need to fight anymore.
I've [00:39:00] I've overcome that temptation. I don't have to worry about that temptation anymore. Uh, I, I truly believe in the statement, new levels, new devils. If, if you're going to continue to grow and be elevated in assignments, I don't care if it's in ministry or in business, there'll be new temptations.
There'll be new tests of character. There'll be new things that, that take place. And I'm just reminded. Here I am. I'm 68 years old. Um, uh, still full-time working in ministry and, uh, I still have to exercise the disciplines, the spiritual disciplines of life. I don't get to coast. Right coast into the finish line.
Um, I'm in the sprint. I may be in the, you know, the last couple of legs of my race, but I'm kicking it hard to the finish line. Uh, so that I can hear well done. Good and faithful servant, [00:40:00] no coasting allowed.
Michael Lee: [00:40:02] That's fantastic. You've written a book it's called tested and approved. Why don't you take a few minutes and talk about
Tom Lane: [00:40:07] that?
Yeah, so I never, actually, when, when I started the direction of this book, I I'd never really thought of it as a book. I was writing it for my kids. Uh, in 2000 I came across, uh, an internet article titled 11 personalized rules. Of life. And what caught me is that it was the article said that these 11 personalized rules were from bill Gates and he delivered them in a commencement exercise.
And I just thought, wow. 11 personalized rules for life. I wonder if I have, what lessons, what rules do I have? So I started writing down to see what lessons have I learned in my life so far. And then over the years now, these 20 years, since then every time I would identify, Oh, I learned this lesson, I learned this [00:41:00] lesson.
I'd write the lesson now. And I, I did so with the thought that these are lessons that I would share with my kids and my grandkids one day, well, uh, gateway publishing. Came to me one day and said, Hey, what's your next book? What are you? What's in your heart? And I said, you know, I have these life lessons.
Well, back up a second, in 2017, I was asked by a church. And Anderson North Carolina to come and speak to their end of year staff training event. They have large staff and there were three of us that we were scheduled to speak a young guy that was speaking on how what's the best way to start then a guy from their staff that was speaking on here's where we are.
And here's where we're going. And they asked me to come and speak on finishing strong. And at the time they asked me that I thought I'm still running my race. I'm not even thinking about finishing strong. And, but the fact that they asked me to speak on it caused me to think about it. And that brought me back to these [00:42:00] lessons that I'd been doing again.
Oh, okay. Maybe here's another way. So I condensed these lessons at the time. There were 17 of them. And I, I said, okay, here's, here's the way I wouldn't say you finished strong here's 17 lessons that I've learned. And I just condensed them and shared them with their team. And then the publishing company came to me and said, what do you have?
And I just shared. Maybe it was fresh. It was the end of the 2017 into 2018. And so they, they said, Oh, we like this. Yeah. Why don't you ride it? And, uh, so that's how it came about. Uh, these are just things that I've learned over the years, things little, I would say nuggets of truth and application. And, and so here's one title of the lesson ministry in life are not fair.
You know, if you approach a live from the perspective of everything's supposed to be fair, you'll just pull your hair out. You [00:43:00] know, it, it makes no sense here. Here's a guy Jim fix. I don't know if you recognize that name. He was a runner fit guy, ran all the time, died of a heart attack. And I mean, he's out running, he's healthy or supposedly picture of health takes good care of himself and he dies of a heart attack.
And then you compare that with a guy who smokes three packs of cigarettes, a day drinks, a fifth of vodka before he goes to bed at night and he lives until he's 98. Well, how does that make sense? It doesn't, life is not fair. If you look at situations or circumstances in your life and you think, wait a minute, there's no fair.
No life is about faith. It's about an interactive relationship with God. And faith requires us to trust him to not look outside ourselves, but to look at him and say, [00:44:00] okay, God, I don't know what you're doing. I'm going to trust you. And I know that you're, you're good. But you have good plans for me, Jeremiah says plans for, for good and not for evil, and I'm not going to compare what I have with what somebody else has.
I'm going to look to you and trust you to work on my behalf. That's the only way you can make sense out of everything that takes place in life. And so it's things like that to give you another, just a summary lesson. Number two is ministry is about people. Before it's about results. I was talking to my dad one day, you know, my dad in business and it was after he bought his business.
I said, Hey dad, you said, Hey Tom, what business do you think I did? I thought to myself, this is a trick question because you're in the wholesale paper distribution business. And I said, well, you're in the paper business any, [00:45:00] he said, just matter of fact, he said, you know, that's what you'd think. Wouldn't you.
But he said I'm in the people business. He said, I manage people who are a part of our team here. I manage relationships with customers. I build relationships and integrity and I went, Whoa. So imagine with that perspective, but no matter what business you're in, you're in the people business. You just, you, you have a product that connects you with people.
You have a service that you offer to people, but you're in the people business. And then from the perspective of, of now 38 years in ministry, I'm in the people business. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what business you're in, you're in the people business. And you're, you're in the people business before you're in the results business.
And so do you think, well, man, I need to turn a profit. I need to, you know, I need to get as much [00:46:00] profit. You're going to answer one day to the guy that is the head of all people, the creator of all things, and you're going to go. Was it really more important for you to have that profit? Or for you to be there as a, as an extension of me into a circumstance that they were dealing with.
So that's sort of the way that the lessons
Michael Lee: [00:46:20] are written. Well, you've just convinced me to stop running. So I'll give you that
Tom Lane: [00:46:24] back.
Michael Lee: [00:46:27] So Chris Hodges, I'm sure you know him and of the Island. Yep. He, uh, always cracks me up when he does this, but he always talks about how, you know, some people are going to die with, uh, the tastes of broccoli on their lips, but he's going with crispy cream and that's me. I'm going out with crispy cream and donuts.
My friend, I can't wait to read it. Uh, it's coming out in January, correct?
Tom Lane: [00:46:51] Yes. And what I did is, um, after I wrote the book, then they came back to me and they said, Hey, this shouldn't be a great coaching. Cool. [00:47:00] Would you, would you write a coaching tool? So in addition to the book, there'll be a, uh, a coach's playbook and I've taken every lesson and I've added my thoughts as if I were sitting across the table from you, you know, if you're reading the lesson, so it could be for a, one-on-one a mentor with a mentee, or it could be with a small group.
And it doesn't matter if it's men or women. I have two, two sons and two daughters. And, uh, these lessons are equally applied to my girls and my boys. Well, we'll have
Michael Lee: [00:47:35] the links to those resources on the show notes here in the description of the show. So people can download and purchase your book right here on this page.
So we're looking forward to that coming out. I've got two more questions for you. And this, this one is if you were in my shoes and you're sitting down and you're interviewing Tom lane, what's a question you would ask.
Tom Lane: [00:47:56] Well, because we're in, at [00:48:00] the end of 2020 going into 2021, I think the question I would ask is what would you say is the solution to the chaos that our world is in right now?
We have a, you know, an election that is undecided. We have racial tension in America. We have economic stress in people's lives. That would be the question I would pose. What
Michael Lee: [00:48:28] would be the answer that you would give to that question?
Tom Lane: [00:48:35] Well, I, I have, since I'm 16, I've had a God worldview. I believe that God is sovereign over everything. I believe the Bible is true and. So, you know, I believe that what we're seeing in the condition of the world today is the result of a spiritual battle, but it's being [00:49:00] waged in an unseen world in the heavens and, and it has its real effect in our lives on earth.
And part of the question is what, whose side of the battle are we going to be on? You know, where we stand for righteousness, where we stand for godliness, where we. Well, we stand and we acknowledge the reality that we cannot earn our way into God's presence, but a way has been provided for us through Jesus Christ.
And will we commit our lives where we bow our knee and acknowledge him as Lord and savior and invite him into our life. Uh that's that's the answer, you know, we're, we're just a few days now before Christmas, that's the Christmas story. Jesus loved us enough to not leave us in our trespasses, our sins, the deadness of our life, but he came to earth to live our [00:50:00] life and live it perfectly so he could take our sins and give us his, his righteousness.
It's an amazing, amazing story. And I heard one time that in, in the Bible, Uh, Egypt is the equivalent of the world. So we live in the world. We live in sinful fallen world with temptations and difficulties all around us. God came into that world and pulled us out of that world so that we could live in the midst of the world and here's righteousness and joy.
Despite what I see. I, I have concerns for my family, for my grandkids. I, uh, I pray often and I do the best that I can, but I still know God's in charge. And that's the answer God's in charge. If you're anxious, uh, I can tell you [00:51:00] God's in charge. If you're fearful, COVID-19 God's in charge. He determines the number of our days.
And the miraculous stories of people who were literally on their death bed. And the doctor said we can't do anything. And yet they survived. God's in charge. And I know every loss of life is tragic. And I, I agree with those who have lost friends and family members God's in charge. That's my mantra. So. The reason the world's in chaos is because it wants to run its own wants to do its own thing.
And if we'll just yield to God, he has the answers to every, every chaotic moment in her life. And he can bring peace.
Michael Lee: [00:51:47] Yeah, that's a great answer. I was just thinking while you're talking about the person who's listening, who's thinking about all the pain of 2020, and when is this ever gonna end? And when will this ever get better?
And that is coming when he [00:52:00] returns, you know, that doesn't pacify everyone, but it's the truth. Like that day we'll get here. So true. Well, Tom, my final question for you. Is, if you had one opportunity, the audience that's listening to this show today, whenever they're listening, you'll never have this audience before you again, what is one big encouragement?
What is one thing? If you had an opportunity to send just one thing to those who are listening, would that be,
Tom Lane: [00:52:25] my encouragement would be this, that we don't know what tomorrow holds. We only know this moment and these days live the most for the day. Love your wife and your kids. Be kind to your neighbor, reach out to somebody in a loving gesture and don't be mean spirited.
Don't don't participate in the mean spiritedness. That's all around us in the world today. Be truthful. You don't have to be, you don't have to deny. You have to be, you don't have to sugar coat [00:53:00] everything. Uh, you can be truthful, but be kind love, love one another and trust God to do. Uh, his great work in our lives.
That'd be my encouragement. My hope for 2021 is that we will love each other. Love God, and we will see his miraculous work in our
Michael Lee: [00:53:22] midst. It's the two greatest commandments. Love God and love one another. That's it, Tom. I can't thank you enough for joining me today. Thank you so much. You're
Tom Lane: [00:53:31] welcome, Michael.
My pleasure. Would you close the show in prayer? I'd love to learn. Thank you for today. Thank you Lord. That we can lift our heads and put our focus on you in this season. Lord, the chaos of 2020 can find its rightful place and peace as we move into the new year. As we put our focus on you, as we trust in you and, and look for your work, I pray [00:54:00] for every person listening that they would, they would have hope.
In you hope in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Hope in God who is, has not forsaken us, but who loves us and is working for our good. I just pray your blessing over every person, listening to this podcast and over Mike and his team, I just pray your blessing over every person. Jesus.
Michael Lee: [00:54:36] so much for tuning into. Today's episode of the sharper together podcast. If you want to hear more incredible conversations, just like this, please make sure to subscribe to the sharper together podcast on your favorite listening device, you'll receive each episode downloaded directly to you. So you never miss a show.
Would you take a moment and subscribe and review this podcast? Because the more subscriptions that reviews are received, it means more and more people that will [00:55:00] receive and hear about these life-giving conversations. You can find more information@wwwdotsharperpodcast.com. We'll see you next time as we stay sharper together.