Challenge Ahead… Don’t read unless you’re ready!!!
This past week in my devotional time, God’s word CHALLENGED me in an area that I have struggled with my entire adult life… as a matter of fact, this word was a “BAD” word in our home…(well, at least it was in my book…)
19 You surely know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you and is a gift from God. You are no longer your own. 20God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God. (1 Corithians 6:19-20)
I fully realize that my body, as a temple, may not be God’s most beautiful dwelling. However, I want to lift up to God my willingness to dedicate my exercise as a gift to Him AND myself. This one act un-divides my heart and reminds me of the deeper purposes for moving my body.
My Point: over the next 60 days, I am going to be treating my body as a temple, offering up my exercise, my mind, my body & my thoughts to body INTENTIONALLY to God… join me, if you will!!!
p.s. – Healthy looks different to each of us… “Skinny” DOES NOT = Healthy… Healthy means Healthy… Healthy is not about looks…
MORE HIM, less me
brent
A full plane & crying kids = peace & quiet…
I was looking back and reading my journals from the past few years and found a letter I wrote.. I have to admit, it was written while reading a book that really spoke volumes to my soul.. This was written after a long flight I was on that included two young kids, a crying baby, and a full plane!!! the problem was, none of the kids were mine!!! my only relief was my “Noise Canceling Headphones”!! This is an excerpt…
“Lord, I confess to you that it’s hard for me to be quiet and silent. I want to hear your voice, but my world is filled with so much noise that I usually miss your gentle nudges. The craziness of activity in my life drowns out your voice. I feel disconnected. I don’t fully understand why it is so difficult to be still and rest in you. I often feel like a rubber band that is stretched too tightly.
I’m sure the diagnosis involves taking a hard look at my drivenness and performance mentality. I also know that I need to own this. I am not a victim of circumstance or situation. My lack of solitude is a reflection of choices that I make. I just want to tell you that I need you and desire to change this area of my life. Help it to be enough just to be with you.”
I want to to make choices that give me both the connectedness with Christ and the business of ministry… I love staying busy!!! I love connecting with people, I love being around people!!! But I also need to remember that times of solitude are crucial…
My Point: Take time to LIVE LIFE, but also take time to put on your Noise Canceling Headphones…
MORE HIM, less me
brent
Please Like Me!!!
I used to be cursed with being a “people pleaser”. I was ever since I can remember. I wanted people to like me and think highly of me. I was motivated by compliments and the approval of my peers. The converse is also true. As quickly as a compliment would brighten my outlook, a critique would pull me down fast. It would linger in my mind far longer than it should. I wasted energy and time analyzing it.
Then I realized, God wants me to seek approval from Him.
“Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ” Galatians 1:10
Obviously it’s good for people to like you. In 1st Timothy, Paul talks about the importance of being likable. But our motivation needs to come from pleasing God. Our value should come from God. My motivation and value come from Him.
If you knew me a few years ago, then this is probably not news to you, just something I am continually working on…being content that I am doing what God wants me to do and knowing He is pleased.
My Point: Who are you trying to please?
MORE HIM, less me
brent
5 Lessons (on a Barf Bag)…
9-year-old Caine Monroy spent his summer vacation building an elaborate DIY cardboard arcade inside his dad’s used auto parts store, and asked people to play. The entire summer went by, and Caine had yet to have a single customer, until one day, a filmmaker named Nirvan Mullick stopped to buy a door handle. What happened next inspired this movie, and launched a movement to foster imagination and creativity in kids everywhere.
Watch part 1 of the movie here… TRUST ME, it will be the best 10 min. you spend today…
Caine’s Arcade Video
Here’s part 2… (8 min.)
Caine’s Arcade 2
Several takeaways from this story and video’s…
#1 – Imagination, Creativity, Innovation and the Power to Inspire has no age limit!!!
Hopefully you were inspired during these video’s… (I got something in my eye while watching this story unfold, or maybe it was allergies!!!)
#2 – The story talks about a movie becoming a movement!!!
Isn’t it about time we start something that becomes a movement… Jesus did!!
#3 – The 5 lessons we can learn from Caine…
1. Be nice to customers.
2. Do a business that is fun.
3. Do not give up. (Caine circled and underlined this one three times)
4. Start with what you have.
5. Use recycled stuff.
My Point: If you’re not moved by this, go to the hospital NOW, you may be dead and not even know it!!
MORE HIM, less me
brent
Chick-Fil-A Leadercast part 2
Here are two more dynamic speakers from this years Chick-Fil-A Leadercast…
JOHN MAXWELL QUOTES FROM THE CHICK-FIL-A LEADERCAST
“It doesn’t start with simple, it starts with simplicity.”
“Geniuses take the complicated and reduce it to the simple. Subtraction can be more effective than addition.”
“Shallow + Fast, Deep + Slow, or Deep and Fast? Pick one”
“Deep and Fast is what you want in your leadership, your business, your relationship.”
“Are leaders born?” Of course they are! I’ve never met an unborn leader! I don’t want to!
“Leadership is influence. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
“Experience is not the best teacher. We all know people that are getting older, but they’re not getting better.”
“Business schools reward complex behavior but it’s the simple behavior that makes you successful in life”
“Connectors do the difficult work of keeping it simple. Don’t confuse simple with simplistic!”
“An educator takes something simple and makes it complex, A communicator takes something complex and makes simple”
“Just because you’re in a position of leadership doesn’t mean you’re a good leader.”
“Leadership is simple: Add value to people everyday.”
“You do not have influence in your weaknesses. You have influence in your strengths.”
“I can’t make everyone happy. I’m a leader, not a clown.”
One of my favorite speakers this year was Jack Welch, (born November 19, 1935) He is an American business executive, author and former chemical engineer. He was chairman and CEO of General Electric between 1981 and 2001. During his tenure at GE, the company’s value rose 4000%.
JACK WELCH QUOTES FROM THE CHICK-FIL-A LEADERCAST
“When your boss asks you to do something, OVER-deliver!”
“The team that fields the best players wins!“
“Rules don’t lead; standards do. Rules define our behavior. Standards are beliefs that we own.”
“Welch calls business schools “Fat, lazy institutions that charge too much money.”
“Every great leader has a generosity gene.”
“Make your boss smarter than they are and you will become indispensable.”
Work Atmosphere –> “You ought to love to be here, but be ready to leave”
Have healthy skepticism and fear BUT go for it!!
Jack Welch’s keys to success: 1) Love what you’re doing, or you’re never going to win. 2) ALWAYS OVER-DELIVER
Self-confidence, simplicity and speed. Three great qualities in leadership.
“Too many leaders are DOING when they need to be TEACHING.”
Jack Welch GE CEO says free online education will revolutionize education. Esp. Those schools who charge 2 much for 2 little
“Work all the time to bring new insights to the job”
“To become a great leader, love what you do and over deliver on what you do. That is how to succeed”
“Create a whole new education for your boss. Make him smarter than he was before he met you.”
“You have no right to call yourself a manager if your employees don’t know where they stand.”
“A good personnel move is worth a thousand speeches.”
“High performing jerks destroy companies.”
“You’ve got to love what you’re doing or you’re never going to win.”
“As a leader you’re never as good and never as bad as the people paint you.”
“What is a budget review? A personal review with numbers”
Jack Welch: Spent 70% of time teaching leaders; the team that fields the best players wins.”
“Lack of transparency is the cruelest form of management.”
“Be deeply interested in your people. The generosity gene is in every leader…promote, develop your team.”
“If you have self confident leaders, they will hire self confident players. Then the whole Team gets upgraded!
“If you don’t like people…this job stinks.”
“if you weren’t currently in your business, would you get into your business today?” Know where you stand
Chick-Fil-A Leadercast
This post is going to be a little different… I attended a Leadership Conference this past Friday with over 120,000 other leaders in over 750 locations across the globe… I am going to share my notes and several comments from others… While sitting at a conference, it’s very hard to take notes and gather as much as you can, so I use both my iPad & twitter to take and have a record of my notes…
So, here you go!!!
ANDY STANLEY QUOTES FROM THE CHICK-FIL-A LEADERCAST 2013
“Complexity is the enemy of clarity”
“Growth creates complexity, which requires simplicity.”
“What is your one-sentence job description?”
“If you’re the only hot dog stand in town, you’re hot dogs don’t have to be good.”
“What are we doing? Why are we doing it? Where do I fit in?”
“Dirty little secret of leadership: Leaders don’t always have all the answers.”
“Poor delivery trumps content, if your a terrible speaker, doesn’t matter what you are saying.”
“The mist in your mind will eventually become a fog in your organization.”
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI (Coach K) QUOTES FROM THE CHICK-FIL-A LEADERCAST 2013
“Rules are externally applied but standards are internally owned”
“Don’t focus on winning, develop a culture of success”
“Being an outstanding leader is an everyday thing.”
“A good leader puts his people in a position to be successful all the time.”
“Leaders create an environment that is conducive to success”
“A good leader recognizes that no job is too low for him; every job/role is important.”
“In order to learn you have to get out if your comfort zone.”
The most important thing about leadership is : communication”
“Two is better than one when two perform as one.”
“Never delegate. Always empower.”
“Every job in our organization is a job you should be willing to do“.
“When you say something is important, you back it up with a personal move”
My Point: I really want to share some of the insight that I have gleaned from this conference, but if it’s just information… Then WOW, you can read…here’s another quote, “Action Produces Traction”… Go do something with it!
Network Marketing
“Advertising doesn’t create interest; at best, it creates awareness. And, that is not always a good thing. Cancer has awareness, and nobody wants that. Nearly 70% of consumers say they are interested in products that enable them to block out advertising.”
This is a statement in a book I am reading AGAIN…
Sometimes I feel “the Church” over-promises and under-delivers. I guess that’s part of feeling as if you’ve been sold a bill of goods. It promises love, joy, peace and purpose. It says give and you’ll receive. It says be a good person and good things will happen to you. Become a Christian and your life will change. Yeah, sorta…
It reminds me of a network marketing organization (many of which, by the way, are launched within church setting). You have a bunch of people who aren’t good at sales out trying to sell with a little bit of information about their product. They over-hype and make promises they can’t possibly keep. It’s a second-class, circus-like sales organization that people don’t take seriously.
My Point: What is it that we can truly promise a seeker or a believer? I believe we can do better. We just need a better plan.. Let’s not forget, “He (Jesus) came to bring us (ALL of us) life, and life more abundant!!!”
MORE HIM, less me
brent
My First Car…
“A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
Proverbs 25:11”
As a teenager I drove a 1965 Chevy Biscayne. It definitely was never featured in any muscle car magazines, but my parents always said that beggars can’t be choosers. It ran pretty well, but I had a tendency to live on the edge and rarely filled the gas tank until it was running on fumes. Of course, that meant that I spent some time on the side of the road with my Biscayne after miscalculating the number of miles left in the gas tank.
When you’re driving, even very slowly, it takes just slight pressure with a finger to turn the direction of the car. However, have you ever tried to steer a parked car? It’s amazingly difficult. When you’re out of gas and need to push the car to the side of the road, it can take all of your efforts, and you still may not be able to budge the steering wheel.
My Point: I had the privilege of hearing a very well respected Pastor say something years ago that I’ve NEVER forgotten… “Grow Daily or Die Gradually” You can’t change for the best, if you’re not moving forward!!!
MORE HIM, less me
brent
A blog about my random thoughts... 