I hope you don’t hate me for saying this, but I secretly cringe sometimes when I see a new Christian bookstore open in our area.
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Why? Mainly because of the products that are labeled as “Christian” that I think are downright weird. And if I didn’t follow Jesus and saw some of this stuff, I’d think Christians were weird, too.
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Exibhit A: The ACTUAL sword of the Spirit. In case of spiritual emergency, break glass? I dunno.
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I sometimes wonder if I’m slamming the folks that really have their faith helped by looking at a product like this…..but if I didn’t follow Jesus, I’d be like….
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“Why is there a Jesus weapon hanging in your office?”
How do you keep fresh eyes, new perspective, the necessary drive to make a difference where you are? I thought about this question for a long time and had a difficult time putting “it” into words. Here “it” is, at least in part, the answer that I recently picked up from a leadership book Kouzes and Posner, “The Leadership Challenge” Treat every day like it is your first day on the job. That’s the key. More than likely whether you are earning minimum wage or 250K a year your first day is a little different than the rest. In the most basic ways you will be on time, show initiative, but not too much, because you want to respect others. So take a look at your organization with fresh eyes. It will re-energize you. Just pretend that someone hired you to do the important job of taking the organization to the next level and start everyday out like it’s your first. It’s an adventure. If the entire organization is trained this way it will be an incredible organization.
Okay, so I know this picture is probably old…..but I don’t care. This is the funniest thing I’ve seen all week.
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Apparently there exists somewhere a Bible coloring book that is teaching Jesus roamed the earth on the back of T-Rex’s that survived Noah’s Flood.
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Now, I’m not saying he didn’t…..because I wasn’t there.
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But I think it’s a downright hilarious depiction of the most influential man that ever lived posing “Marvel-super-hero style” on a T-Rex, looking like He’s about to hurl an energized ball of justice on some sinner that had it coming.
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If you click & zoom in, it gets even better with coloring suggestions like “rapturious red” & “omnipotent yellow.”
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Create and maintain a sustainable pace. Without margin or extra time incorporated into your life, there is no time to serve. Evaluate and reevaluate your schedule. Without margin, we are looking first to our own interest, which never builds an organization.
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Celebrate, reward or simply compliment greatness when you see it. What is rewarded is repeated.
If you are the leader or just an employee… Confront your EGO. Ask the question, What’s more important: creating a great organization or creating a name for yourself?
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Things are probably not so great if you find unhealthy internal competition for resources instead of an attitude of service.
Things may not be so great if you find a double standard men to women, CEO to everyone else, Pastor to church staff.
Things may not be so great if you have to give loyalty lectures. It’s really over you just don’t’ know it yet because you probably have not confronted your ego.
If you see your organization or staff as a support for your career, go ahead and announce it……and see how it goes. Humility and teamwork are essentials to moving your organization to the next level.
It’s pretty common these days to see a large American flag flying outside of a church. (We have one at Bay Shore) It’s even more common in many protestant churches to see the flag on side of the stage bookending the Christian flag on the other. Now I have nothing against flags and I am patriotic. I love my country and am thankful to all the men and women who have served in the armed forces. It just seems strange (to me) to have American flags so closely associated with the work of the Kingdom. I recently read this quote, “A Christian should get very nervous when the flag and the Bible start holding hands. This is not a romance we want to encourage.” Rob Bell. I think Rob is on to something We should not confuse our patriotism and thankfulness for the luxury of America with scripture. What do you think?
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“What truly pulls people forward, especially in difficult times, is the exciting possibility that what they are doing can make a profound difference to the future of their families, friends, colleagues, customers, and communities. They want to know that what they do matters.” James M. Kouzes
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We are almost finished with our first Habitat for Humanity house and will be almost completely furnishing it for a single mom and her three boys. In a seemingly bad economy a group of people came together with resources (what I mean by that is MONEY). They got to work and built a house for a family. If there is one thing that God is counting on is that a few of His people pulling together and doing the work for people in need. I’m thankful to have been a small part of this build. I hope we will do so much more in the future. Up next: A big huge Food Drive at Bay Shore Community Church. DRIVE ’09 Get ready.
Some things to think about over the weekend before you go back to the grind on Monday. I picked some of this up from Andy Stanley on how to have a great organization or business environment.
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Have an organization that is characterized by mutual respect.
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Continually ask the question: “What can I do to help?”
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“The ultimate dysfunction of a team is the tendency of members to care about something other than the collective goals of the group…” Patrick Lencioni
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Here are some suggestions on how to create this environment:
Do for one when you can’t do for all. Or Do for one what you wish you could do for all. Do the unexpected. Study the people that you work beside and meet their needs and help them become successful. Fair is the enemy of right.
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Mother Teresa once said, “If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one I will.”
Welcome to the Mill, a blog dedicated to sifting through the stuff of life.
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Check out this awesome video my friend Andy Mason did for our Christmas services at Bay Shore Community Church. You could steal this video for your next years service or you could send $25 to my friend Andy for his intellectual property. Enjoy
Check out our awesome-low budget stage with junk we bought from walmart!
I had a conversation with a friend at Panera Bread. Hmmm…….I love that tomato soup.
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We talked about the guilt associated with sin. So, the question was:
“When I sin, should I feel bad about the sin? And if I should feel bad then how long should I feel bad. Is 5 minutes long enough? Maybe 5 days? Or a couple of months? “
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When you receive forgiveness provided it doesn’t change the fact that you did it whatever “it” is. I know that when we sin, generally speaking, we feel some sense of remorse or sorrow, but Christ died for our sin so if we confess our sin it should be over. Guilt is counter productive.
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Oh yeah……the consequences…….they still hang around.
