I read an article today about how the juniors and freshman at ACU all received
new iPhone4′s at the start of the semester and how the juniors were excited about that because the original iPhones they had received 2 years ago was considered ancient technology.

Here is my thought. (did I mention that I am getting used to typing on an onscreen digital keyboard?) I remember when my family first bought our first computer. It was a big black Acer computer that could barely run a text editing application, rather play a streaming video online. And now, I’m using a screen the size of a notebook that has 100x the capability of that computer. It hasn’t even been 10 years and we consider a 2 year old device ancient technology.

If you want to comment, I’d appreciate your thoughts in what you think the future holds. Where do you think we will be in the next 5 years? Remember, finger-touch technology (iPhones, iPads, HTC EVO, etc) wasn’t available 5 years ago.

Get ready for the next 5 years, let alone the next 10 or 15, they are going to blow your mind.

Good leaders deliberately seek out and find potential leaders. Great leaders not only find them, but also equip them to be great leaders.

- John C. Maxwell

Stage One: Position Gives You a Platform

Adding value is the essence of equipping others, and you can add value in any direction: to your superiors, peers, or followers. Obviously, you have the most authority when you’re the boss. However, even if you aren’t in charge, you have immense capacity to equip others through the ideas and resources you share. When it comes to equipping, proximity matters just as much hierarchy. You’ll naturally influence those closest to you: whether you’re above or below them on the organizational chart.

Stage Two: Respect Gives You Permission

People naturally follow leaders stronger than themselves. That’s the Law of Respect. Consequently, people will dismiss your attempts to equip them until they’re able to assess whether or not they respect you. Respect is earned over time by demonstrating integrity with people and effectiveness in delivering results.

Integrity with people involves a harmony of beliefs, values, and actions. As others observe you to be hard-working, honest, and consistent, they begin to appreciate your strength of character. While they may not like you or have a connection to you at this point, at least they respect you.

Your reputation for delivering results develops daily as you carry out the assignments that come your way. If your performance is uneven-you do some tasks well, but others poorly-then others will lose respect for you. However, if you repeatedly work with excellence then your co-workers and managers will take note and begin looking to you for leadership.

Stage Three: Likeability Gives You Persuasiveness

All good equipping relationships are founded on a personal relationship. As your people get to know and like you, their desire to follow your direction grows. If they dislike you, they will not want to learn from you, and the equipping process can slow down or even stop.

To gain the goodwill your coworkers, show genuine concern for their wellbeing. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Be intentional about taking an active interest in those around you at work, and add value to them in whatever ways you can. Focus on their needs and their aspirations before seeking to advance your own interests.

One of the best ways to get to know people is to see them outside of the world where you lead them. People are usually on their guard at work. They try to be what others want them to be. By getting to know them in other settings, you can get a glimpse of who they really are. Ask questions about their life story and try to discern what motivates them. If you connect with someone’s heart, they’ll be glad to offer you their hand.

http://www.giantimpact.com/iphone/article_read/the_three_stages_of_equipping/

“For all the time we’d spent together, for all the kindness and patience Morrie had shown me when I was young, I should have dropped the phone and jumped from the car, run and held him and kissed him on the forehead hello.

Instead, I killed the engine and sunk down off the seat, as if I were looking for something.

I did what I had become best at doing: I tended to my work, even while my professor waited on his front lawn. I am not proud of this, but this is what I did.”

Sometimes in life we know the things we should do, but many of the times we do not follow through. It’s a sad ordeal and can leave one with a regretful life. Follow through with what you know and feel.

He coughed, and then regained his smile. “I’m on the last great journey here – and people want me to tell them what to pack.”

“Dying,” Morrie suddenly said, “is only one thing to be sad over, Mitch. Living unhappily is something else. So many of the people who come to visit are unhappy.” Why? “Well for one thing, the culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it. Create your own. Most people can’t do it. They’re unhappier than me – even in my current condition.”

 

“I may be dying, but I am surrounded by loving caring souls. How many people can say that?”

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

“But it’s hard to explain, Mitch. Now that I’m suffering, I feel closer to people who suffer than I ever did before.”

View Rob Bell, Drops Like Stars on suffering.

“Silence. Why are we embarrassed by silence? What comfort do we find in all the noise?”

“Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too – even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling.”

“Everyone knows they are going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things much differently.”

“To know you’re going to die, and to be prepared for it at any time. That’s better. That way you can actually be more involved in your life while you’re living.”

“The truth is Mitch, once you’ve learned how to die, you learn how to live.”

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. – Luke 9:23

“Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live, but there’s one thing. The things you spend so much time on – all the work you do – might not seem as important. You might have to make room for some spiritual things. You hate that word don’t you? ‘Spiritual.’ You think it’s touchy feely stuff.”

 

“The fact is, there is no foundation, no secure ground, upon which people may stand today if it isn’t the family. It’s become quite clear to me, as I’ve been sick. If you don’t have the support and love and caring and concern that you get from a family, you don’t have much at all. Love is so supremely important. As our great poet Auden said, ‘Love each other or perish.’”

“This is part of what family is about, not just love, but letting others know there’s someone who is watching out for them. It’s what I missed so much when my mother died – what I call your ‘spiritual security’ – knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame.”

 

“Detach yourself. Detachment doesn’t mean you don’t let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That’s how you are able to leave it.”

“But by throwing yourself into these emotions, by allowing yourself to dive in, all the way, over your head even, you experience them fully and completely. You know what pain is you know what love is. You know what grief is. And only then can you say, ‘All right. I have experienced that emotion. I recognize that emotion. Now I need to detach from that emotion for a moment.’”

“It’s very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you’d always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It’s growth. It’s more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s also the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.”

“Unsatisfied lives. Unfulfilled lives. Lives that haven’t found meaning. Because if you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more. You can’t wait until sixty-five.”

“It’s impossible for the old not to envy the young. But the issue is to accept who you are and revel in that. This is your time to be in your times. I had my time to be in my thirties, and now it is time to be seventy-eight.”

“Do kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won’t be dissatisfied, you won’t be envious, you won’t be longing for somebody else’s things. On the contrary, you’ll be overwhelmed with what comes back.”

“People haven’t found meaning in their lives, so they’re running all the time looking for it. They think the next car, the next house, the next job. Then they find those things are empty, too, and they keep running.”

“I’ve learned this much about marriage. You get tested. You find out who you are, who the other person is, and how you accommodate or don’t.”

“Still, there are a few rules I know to be true about love and marriage: If you don’t respect the other person, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. If you don’t know how to compromise, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. If you can’t talk openly about what goes on between you, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. And if you don’t have a common set of values in life, you’re gonna have a lot of trouble. Your values must be alike.”

“Look, no matter where you live, the biggest defect we human beings have is our shortsightedness. We don’t see what we could be. We should be looking at our potential, stretching ourselves into everything we can become. But if your surrounded by people who say ‘I want mine now,’ you end up with a few people with everything and a military to keep the poor ones from rising up and stealing it.”

“The problem is Mitch, we don’t believe we are as much alike as we are. Whites and blacks. Catholics and Protestants, men and women. If we saw each other as more alike, we might be very eager to join in one big human family in this world, and to care about that family the way we care about our own.”

“Invest in the human family. Invest in people. Build a little community of those you love and who love you.”

“In the beginning of life, when we are infants, we need others to survive right? And the end of life, when you get like me, you need others to survive, right? But here’s the secret: in between, we need others as well.”

“Don’t let go too soon, but don’t hang on too long.”

“Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others.”

“There is no point in keeping vengeance or stubbornness. These things I so regret in my life. Pride. Vanity. Why do we do the things we do?”

 

“As long as we can love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without ever really going away. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on – in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were here.”

“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”

“You no longer have what you have with that person. You want them back. You never want them to stop. But that’s part of being human. Stop, renew, stop, renew.”

 

“None of us can undo what we’ve done, or relive a life already recorded. But if Professor Morris Schwartz taught me anything at all, it was this: there is no such thing as ‘too late’ in life. He was changing until the day he said goodbye.”

When God places a call on our lives to something, there are three different responses we can choose to make.

1. Outright rejection. Self-explanatory, you deny that there is any such call on your life and can try to run or hide from it.
2. Postponement. The last thing we usually want to declare is that there is something that is calling us to change or do something different that no one else is doing.
3. Immediate reaction, yes.

In Acts 9, starting in verse 17, it talks about Saul on his journey and mission to Demsacus to outright kill Christians and how the Lord called him to do something.

So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was  strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

There must be a response. When we respond, there is an effect on those around us. And when we respond to what God is calling us to, everything changes. We cannot go backwards and we cannot move forward until we respond.

So, I think the question we need to ask ourselves is that, do we see the greater picture of God’s purpose in our own lives? Do we understand the magnitude of this question and the effect it may have not only on our life journey but possibly someone else as well. And by asking this question, we can only help but ask what’s next?

Jesus is standing in front of the temple in Jerusalem
the massive gleaming brick and stone and gold house of God
and he says destroy this temple
and I’ll rebuild it in three days
the people listening to him said how are you going to do that?
it took 46 years to build this temple!
but he wasn’t talking about that temple
he’s t…alking about himself
he essentially says, listen
I’m going to be killed
that’s where this is headed
because you don’t confront corrupt systems of power
without paying for it
sometimes with your own blood
and so he’s headed to his execution
if you had witnessed this divine life extinguished on a cross
how would you not be overwhelmed with despair?
is the world ultimately a cold, hard, dead place?
does death have the last word?
is it truly, honestly, actually dark
and so whatever light we do see
whatever good we do stumble upon
are those just blips on the radar?
momentary interruptions in an otherwise meaningless existence?
because if that’s the case then despair is the
only reasonable response
it’s easy to be cynical
but Jesus says destroy this temple and I’ll rebuild it
he insists that his execution would not be the end
he’s talking about something new and unexpected
happening after his death
he’s talking about resurrection
resurrection announces that God has not given up on the world
because this world matters
this world that we call home
dirt and blood and sweat and skin and light and water
this world that God is redeeming and restoring and renewing
greed and violence and abuse they are not right
and they cannot last
they belong to death and death does not belong
resurrection says that what we do with our lives matters
in this body
the one that we inhabit right now
every act of compassion matters
every work of art that celebrates the good and the true matters
every fair and honest act of business and trade
every kind word
they all belong and they will all go on in God’s good world
nothing will be forgotten
nothing will be wasted
it all has it’s place
everybody believes something
everybody believes somebody
Jesus invites us to trust resurrection
that every glimmer of good
every hint of hope
every impulse that elevates the soul
is a sign, a taste, a glimpse
of how things actually are
and how things will ultimately be
resurrection affirms this life and the next
as a seamless reality
embraced
graced
and saved by God
there is an unexpected mysterious presence
who meets each of us in our lowest moments
when we have no strength when we have nothing left
and we can’t go on we hear the voice that speaks those
words
destroy this temple and I’ll rebuild it
do you believe this?
that’s the question Jesus asked then
and that’s the question he asks now
Jesus’ friends arrive at his tomb and they’re told
he isn’t here
you didn’t see that coming, did you?
he’s isn’t here
there is nothing to fear
and nothing can ever be the same again
we are living in a world in the midst of rescue
with endless unexpected possibilities
they will take my life and I will die Jesus says
but that will not be the end
and when you find yourself assuming that it’s over
when it’s lost, gone, broken and it could never be
put back together again,
when it’s been destroyed and you swear that it could never
be rebuilt
hold on a minute
because in that moment
things will in fact have just begun

He starts the letter off by hitting us religious and holier than thou people upside the head by saying,

“To all my non-believing, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing friends: I feel like I should begin with a confession. I am sorry that so often the biggest obstacle to God has been Christians. Christians who have had so much to say with our mouths and so little to show with our lives. I am sorry that so often we have forgotten the Christ of our Christianity. Forgive us. Forgive us for the embarrassing things we have done in the name of God.

Man oh man, do we as Christians get it so wrong sometimes. Why do we think that because we know who Jesus is and because we say we’re Christian, we think that we can put ourselves up on this pedestal of

I’m better than you because you’re a ‘non-believing, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing’ Christian?

I had a conversation with a friend the other night, and we were talking about how being at a Christian University you would think that more people would understand that we are all screwed up human beings who obviously are not perfect and do not have all the answers. Instead, it is the exact opposite. It is like BECAUSE we call ourselves to be Christians, we feel the need to put up this religious cover-up to hide all of our weaknesses and screwed up parts of our lives.

I can personally testify to having been a Christian who used religion to cover up my sinful natured life.

However, my perspective has changed significantly.

I was eating lunch in the campus center after class one day, and this guy came up to me and asked if he could eat with me. I said,

Yeah, sure man.

I had no problem with it.

And so, we began talking, asking the common questions of,

Where are you from?, What year are you?, What’s your major?

But, being at a Christian University, it is impossible to not talk about your religious background.

The majority of people at Abilene Christian University are Church of Christ; hence it is a COC school.

Now as we were talking, I was asked,

So, what are you? (Implying what denomination I was)

I responded by saying,

Well, I guess you could say I am non-denominational? I don’t really associate my faith with a denomination. I believe in the bible and I believe in Jesus.

It seemed like my new friend was unable to comprehend my response. I don’t know exactly why, but it seemed like the only thing he knew was that everyone must be defined by something (a denomination in this instance).

He asked me,

So, you obviously haven’t grown up in the church?

My response was,

No, I actually have grown up in the church most my life. There obviously were times in my life where I didn’t go to church for periods of time, but I feel like I’ve had a subtle background of church throughout my life.

He was quick to ask then,

But so you’re just trying to figure things out then huh?

I was a bit taken back by this question.

And my tentative response was,

No, I feel like I have things kind of figured out. I mean, I obviously don’t have all of the answers, but it’s not like I don’t have a solid foundation of what my faith is based upon.

So, as the conversation ended, it seemed as though my friend had put himself up on this religious pedestal, and I was left in the shoes of the ‘non-believing, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing’ Christian.

I could finally comprehend what I (we as Christians) need to quit doing.

How will we ever have legitimate relationships if we are unable to relate with people on an authentic, personal, deep, and passionate level?

If we continue to use our religion to place ourselves above others, you can guarantee that you will not have any type of impact on anyone you want to influence.

How about we just BE REAL?

I have had a decent number of learning experiences which have affected my life.

One of the biggest though was when I resigned from the football team at the University of Nebraska.

I resigned from the football team in February of 2009. I did this because I felt like the Lord was calling me in a different direction than the one I was headed. There were a few interactions and relationships that I did not agree with, along with certain situations I was put in.

At this point, I thought my collegiate football career was over, and I was OK with that. If that was what the Lord wanted, than that is what the plan was going to be.

However, I finished the 09′ spring semester at Nebraska, and then worked and took classes during the summer in Lincoln. I then proceeded to get in contact with a private coach I worked with throughout High School and told him that I wanted to keep in contact with him and that if he ever needed any help with camps or anything, to keep me in mind (because one day I want to coach as well).

He gave me a call about a week after I sent him this e-mail. We talked about why I decided to discontinue playing and what my plans were for the near future.

He asked me, “Well, I have one question though, do you still want to play.”

I proceeded to tell him that, “I did still have the desire to play football, however, it was not that big of a deal to me. I didn’t want to just go somewhere just to go somewhere to play football, there had to be a purpose for it.”

He suggested that I could possibly transfer to the University of Kansas, but, if I had done that, I would have had to sit out a year, and lose a year of eligibility due to NCAA rules. And then, if I decided to transfer to a Division II school, I would not have to sit out, and I could play immediately. But again, I didn’t feel the need to just go anywhere, there had to be a purpose and a reason.

So, to make a long story short, the door opened for me to play football again at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. Two weeks before school started, and three days before fall camp, I hopped into my car from Lincoln, Nebraska and I drove to Abilene, Texas to visit the campus and meet with Head Coach Chris Thomsen. To say the least, the moment I walked on campus, I knew ACU was where I was supposed to be. It’s a crazy story, but in the end, I drove to Abilene Christian University from Nebraska out of the blue, not knowing anything, and I never looked backed.

But, now that you have a bit of context to this story, I want to make my point.

Today during spring football practice, it wasn’t the best practice we’ve ever had, and I think that could be credited to the fact that we have been practicing for about 6 days straight.

As an athlete, you are always going to have days and practices where you don’t feel like practicing at the level you know you should and are capable of.

But, if it is one thing I have learned, and Coach T says this all the time, is that,

You can’t let what you feel control what you know.

And I have taken that to heart.

But today in the middle of practice, it hit me. While everyone around me may have not felt like practicing to their fullest potential, I found myself appreciating more and more the opportunity that has been given to me. I found myself wanting, desiring to maximize the opportunity given to me; and wanting, desiring to be practicing.

It hit me that I have been able to find that the smallest things in the eye’s of the society, are incredibly huge.

In James 3:3-6 it speaks about how even the smallest things have an incredibly huge impact.

Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.

I believe that if we as a team can take the next step in focusing on the little things, we will take the next step to being a national championship football team

Hebrews 13:16

And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

And so, we can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing – or, we will just keep getting what we’ve been getting. Because ultimately, what got us here will not get us there.

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

In our lives, what does this look like? In life, how do we reflect and glorify God? Are we satisfied enough to glorify God alone? Do we want to glorify God? Why would God not be glorified in our lives?

If we can deeply connect our relationship with God, with a deep satisfaction of love, why would God not be glorified?

Be satisfied. Be glorified. Be loved.

How you respond to disappointment, says a lot more than how you do in success.

1. Temptation. The undisputed force of the decade. It’s not even close. Her perfume filled the air. Her stiletto footprints were everywhere. Too many in sports couldn’t resist her. How many lives did she professionally and/or personally damage?

Temptation seduced many into taking drugs and brought down Clemens, Bonds, A-Rod, Canseco, the facade over the great home run chase and also broke into the home shared by the fastest man and woman in the world and brought down Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, too.

Temptation also took others from their wives/significant others/baby mamas because they just had to flirt with a skirt. She saved her biggest name for last, whipping Tiger with a month to spare. But she also shook up Kobe, Barkley, Shaq, Jordan, Brady, Pitino, Brodeur, Steve Phillips (twice!), Pokey Chatman, Dwyane Wade and Matt Leinart. And those are just the ones we know about.

I could take a theological spin on this, however, for now, we will just leave it at this. For more on this; read, “when leaders fail” and read, this pdf.

EDIT: here is the theological side of this situation. A good friend of mine wrote this up on a facebook note.

It’d probably be safe to say that during the past month, Tiger Woods life has been exploited. The ugliness of what he felt like could be kept under the table has now been exposed and it seems like the whole world has heard. My heart definitely hurts for this man and I feel like there can be some things drawn from this issue that we could all probably learn from. I pray that Tiger can recover from everything that has happened and get back to the game that he is so passionate about, because I still feel like he is one of the greatest competitors in all of sports.

ESPN did an interview with Herm Edwards after everything spilled out and they asked him for his opinion on what Tiger needed to do next. His message was very clear that Tiger needed to find someone to help him with his LIFE. I’ve attached the link to the interview, so you can check out the whole thing, but I just felt like some of the points he brought up were very powerful. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYBtrrBku8g)

1. Where are your priorities?

I feel like this is something we can all ask ourselves. What is of greatest importance in my life, right here, right now? In Tiger’s situation he was valuing other women over his wife and it was causing him so much unrest. You could definitely tell that by the phone message he left one of the women when he knew his wife was starting to track his secret activity. I feel like this could have been avoided if his priorities weren’t self-centered. I’ve come to realize in my life that things will start to crumble when my priorities are about “me”. Our human nature tell us to get, get, get, and this situation just shows that you can have so much in your life and still feel like you don’t have enough. This is why it’s so important to give priority to something that is constant and will always satisfy.

2. Who is that person who tells you NO?

Edwards definitely stressed accountability and really hit home that it is important to have a great support system that can keep you on track. Do you have a person in your life who will step up and let you know when you are drifting away from your value system? This goes right back to priorities, I think we all need to have someone who has similar priorities to help you walk through life in a way that they care about you so much that when you get off track, they will bring you back…all out of love.

3. “What we do in the dark, comes to the light.”

This comment came straight from the Word in Luke 8:17…”For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought into the open.” No matter how confidential or how tight we try to keep our best secrets locked up, everything done in the darkness will eventually be revealed. This seems pretty scary to think about…I would hate to have my biggest mistakes flashed on National TV for all to see! We might be lucky and get by without people figuring out about everything that we have done, but there is ONE who does.

God the Creator knows us inside and out and Christ reminded us in Matthew 12:36 that we are responsible for it all. “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” This seems like a pretty tall order, because we would need to live a perfect life in order to be accountable for no careless words. It is a tall order because it is way out of our reach. We cannot live the perfect life, but there is One is who has!

Jesus Christ, the one who we celebrate this Christmas season, has lived the perfect life and his blood has the power to cover our mistakes we are certainly not proud of. How incredible is that that when those who trust in the Lord will be seen as blameless and perfect in God’s sight on judgment day. This is all because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus who was born on a quiet night that manger. I pray that Tiger would put his trust in his Creator (who has blessed him with some sick skill) if he hasn’t already, so he could be brought near though the blood!