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

Work…

“If you were to calculate the hours worked from 16 to 65 working 40 hours per week with 2 weeks vacation every year, you would see that you are going to work for nearly 100,000 hours in your lifetime.”

“5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.” Ephesians 6:5-8

It’s AMAZING that God’s Word gives us EVERYTHING that we need to know about our life… Maybe not exactly, but principles to guide us through the “Life MORE abundant”

My Point: Work is more than a place to make money, “It isn’t what is expected that gets done, it is what is inspected.” Whatever we do as a Christian impacts others view of Christ. What is the view from those you influence?

MORE HIM, less me
brent

Charlie Brown’s Teacher…

“We don’t need just information in our heads, but transformation in our hearts..”
How many times have we sit and listened to someone speak, talk, teach? They show us, tell us, teach us stuff, some of us, weekly… We gather information, hear information, give others information… But does this information cause transformation? Is it just “wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah…? if the only thing we have is a lot of information, then the world may never see our potential…Transformation with information means that we act upon the speech, talk or teaching we’ve been given… Then true change can happen!!

My Point: we have to take the information we receive, and allow that to transform us and make us better than before we heard the information…

MORE HIM, less me
brent

Math…

I am attending a roundtable meeting today that is discussing the spread of God’s Word around the world… There is about 60 other people attending… The speaker, Dr. Ronald Maddux, the Director of the Northern Asia region is speaking on the “Untold, the Unfolding and the Changing face of Northern Asia… He shared some statistics from the last 64 yrs… In 1949 there were 1,000,000 believers in China, in 2013 there is 108,000,000 believers in China… WHAT?!?!? That means that they have influenced 107,000,000 people to take a step of faith in 64 years!!!

Am I doing enough? If you added the number of people that you PERSONALLY have shared God’s Word with PLUS everyone THEY have shared God’s Word, PLUS, etc, etc, etc…. would that add up to 107,000,000 people????

My Point:
I’ve got A LOT of work to do… I need to be a better influencer..

MORE HIM, less me
brent

Important..

“Surround yourself with great people and repeatedly tell them why they matter.”

This might be one of the greatest leadership lessons I’m learning right now.

Life and leadership seems to be getting increasingly more complex. I have more responsibility and opportunities than ever before and with that more opportunities to really jack it all up if it weren’t for the people around me.

Each day I’m reminded of the value of the people that God has put in my life, both personally and professionally. I have people who bring expertise to situations, others who bring encouragement, co-workers who own their responsibilities and play their part, friends who counsel and make me laugh, family who support in all seasons… the list goes on.

Some days I want to slow everything down and get it to a nice manageable pace where I feel like I’m in complete control, but I’m learning that living on the brink of perceived chaos (in my desperate-need-for-order mind), is where I’m most able to see the gifts of others shine.

My Point:
Who has God placed in your life?

Have you told them how much you appreciate them?

Simplicity…

1. Simplicity unclutters our lives
Daily living becomes jammed with stuff, activities, urgent tasks, chores, appointments, responsibilities and information. When we simplify, we choose to eliminate a lot of this. An uncluttered life is an untied life. Simplicity gives us back the life we have given up to all the clutter.

2. A simpler life gives us more time to relax
By eliminating much of the excess in our lives, we have more time to relax. Our possessions no longer require so much of our time. We don’t have to work as hard to maintain our lifestyle which gives us more time to unwind. A relaxed mind is more creative and effective. Simplicity frees us up to do what we want instead of what we have to do.

3. A simpler life means fewer interruptions
We have time to have a conversation. All our activities and engagements are constantly tugging us away from quiet time with those that matter the most to us. In the end, how much of what we are doing is going to matter? It is usually the least important things that force us to put the truly important on the back burner.

4. Simplicity allows us to focus
Narrowing our field of view allows us to focus on what is really important. Things creep into our life until it is so crowded that we can’t decide where we should apply our attention. It takes effort and some difficult choices to simplify, but it is worth it because simplification will allow you to accomplish more on what really matters.

I think the perfect picture of simplicity is the Gospel… To many times, we make God to complicated… He gave us two simple things to do…Love God, and Love Others… Pretty simple..

I’m convinced, I will simplify my life…

MORE HIM, less me
brent

Stuck in a Funk?

Stuck in a Funk by Tony Morgan has now become my “Go To Book”…

If you’re unclear about your vision, then read this book, If your systems are unhealthy, read this book, If you’re trying to generate better online content, read this book!!! Tony has really taken the series of ebooks he had written for the Leisure Suit series and combined them into one of the most useful books I have ever had the privilege of reading.

If your Church isn’t moving forward, then it’s moving backwards… We can’t continue to be satisfied with the status quo… “Until we look at our methods, our message really doesn’t matter.”

This book is not just filled with “Information”, it’s filled with content to help you become “UN-stuck”!!!

If you’re looking for a book that you will go back to time and time again, “Stuck in a Funk” is THAT BOOK!!

There’s an App for that!

CouchCachet

Unleash your living room!

“Wouldn’t it be great if there was an app that showed you all of the cool parties, bars and restaurants that you could be hitting tonight? Of course it would. But you know what would be even better? A social application that will lie and say you are already doing those things while you sit at home in your pajamas.”Some tag lines from the site; “Life, without the hassle of Living”, also, “ I can finally be who I want you to think I am. ”  and last but not least, “ I spent hours researching fun things to do, but I got too tired to actually do them. ”

Seriously? Who wants to live life without living? Well, this app allows you to be somewhere you’re not, Live life to the least and make everyone else think you’re living it to the fullest,

Is this really how people want to live? I for one, am GOING to live life to the fullest… I’m GOING to spend time with my wife, kids & grandkids… I’m GOING to develop healthy relationships… I’m GOING to go on adventures… I’m GOING to love God and love others…

What are you GOING to do?

(I wonder if this will catch on in Church?)

My Point: Be who you are, and be WHERE you are…

MORE HIM, less me

brent

Desperately seeking a leader…

We have witnessed a worldwide event over the past few days, more than 100,000 people from all over the world gathering in Rome to take part in a historic event… Flags from all over the world as people crowded into St. Peter’s square to be part of something bigger than themselves.. Sanding for hours in the wet, cold weather… All eyes on a smoke stack, waiting for the sign of white smoke to billow out signifying the election of the new leader of nearly 1.2 million Catholics all around the world…

We need to allow people to feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves… Something that can and will change their lives forever…

Here is one Catholic commentators Job Description for the Pope: “Well, of course what we’re looking for is someone who’s holy, someone’s who’s intelligent, that knows theology, that knows the teachings of the church. But also somebody who can communicate. You know, can communicate to the average person, not just the scholars. And finally, there’s been a lot of talk about the need for someone who can re-organize and (get) the Vatican under control because bishops are upset about the leaks, about allegations of corruption and everything else and they don’t like that so you put all that together and it looks like Jesus Christ with an MBA..

That’s a pretty tough job description for anybody and there’s obviously nobody who fits it perfectly so I think we have to be realistic in terms of whoever gets elected Pope, He’s NOT PERFECT, there was only one person who was and we killed him!!

My Point: People are looking for a leader, they are looking for someone who can be holy, someone’s who’s intelligent, someone who knows theology, somebody who can communicate to the average person, not just the scholars, someone who looks like Jesus Christ with an MBA

Lets be that somebody!!!

MORE HIM, less me
brent

Discipline…

“Discipline Reveals Character…” Over the last week, my wife and I have been blessed to have both of our grandsons here at our home… It’s been, lets say, challenging at times… We’re NOT used to having little ones around the house, & we ARE used to being able to understand them when something’s wrong… My youngest grandson (Isaiah – 6mths old) has been difficult at times, we know he’s eaten, he’s clean & he’s safe…SO WHY ARE YOU CRYING???!?!?!? We don’t know if his tummy hurts, he doesn’t like the way were holding him, or not holding him, if he’s too warm, or too cold… WHAT IS IT??? I can understand when a baby who can’t communicate any other way but to make a noise, but a two year old, who understands most of what you say? OH NO HE DIDN’T just throw a fit…”ain’t nobody got time fo dat”

My Point: When we are disciplined by our boss, reminded of who we are by a friend, reminded who we are NOT by our parents, what is revealed in our reaction? What oozes out when we’re squeezed?

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8 NIV)

MORE HIM, less me
brent