Month: February 2010

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Daily Post random thoughts

Random Thought Friday

Phew, its been one of the messy starts – raining, teenagers, early meetings. So today its a set of unrelated random thoughts to keep you “buffeting” and staying strong.

  • Isn’t is awesome that you can turn on a water spigot and clean pure water comes out – and usually as much as you want.  Thats my friends is an incredible blessing.  Don’t take it for granted.  Especially on another rainy day.

If you are weary of some sleepy form of devotion, probably God is weary of it as much as you are. – Frank Laubach

  • Here is an pretty funny site that won  Collide Magazine‘s top Pop Culture & Faith Blog of 2009.  And the author has a book coming out in April you may enjoy. Its called Stuff Christians Like.  You may find it helpful in your daily walk as well!
  • Check this out.  Harding University is doing something good and cool.  https://tentsandtarps.org/
  • Any finally just a happy verse to keep you going on Friday.
Psalm 118:23-25 (New International Version)

23 the LORD has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

25 O LORD, save us;
O LORD, grant us success.

Sing it, and Live it!

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Daily Post

Speed of Change:Becoming an Expert

Way back in December, I posted about the speed of change, and mentioned that I would revisit that issue in the future.  Well, earlier this week, while the auditory portions of my brain listened to a conference call ramble on, the visible portion of my brain, surfed the web with reckless abandon, until I stumbled upon a article about becoming an expert.  It was at this point that all of my focus was on this article.

Although the comments after the post debate some of the findings,  the writer of the post, Penelope, refers to a Harvard Business Review article entitled The Making of an Expert, where research points to this conclusion

that there is no correlation between IQ and expert performance in fields such as chess, music, sports, and medicine has borne out his findings. The only innate differences that turn out to be significant—and they matter primarily in sports—are height and body size.

Essentially suggesting that to become an expert at something it takes time, training, and desire.  The article also points out the importance of a mentor and guide  in developing expertise.

I find this interesting to apply to work, but I also find it interesting when we think about ourselves.  I can’t remember how many times I have heard people pray to be a “better Christian”.   We expect that we can utter a single prayer, and boom the character trait or temptation that we struggle with just disappears!  It’s not going to happen like that.  Mastery take time.  Author Malcolm Gladwell has make famous – ( apparently, as I have not personally read this yet, only references to it, although I have heard him speak, so I think that makes it ok for me to quote him!?!)- a 10,000 hour rule to becoming a expert.  That’s 5 years!

So today realize that the world is changing fast around us, but don’t be discouraged if you don’t see the mastery in your life overnight.  It takes time.  But not just clock time.  It takes time working at the problem. It takes time working with a mentor, it takes time studying, praying for change, focusing on the issue.  You can change, you can attain mastery.

1 Timothy 4:7 (New International Version)

7Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

What do you think?

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National Letter of Intent Day

Its here.  Its the culmination of all the college football recruiting.  Its National Signing Day, or Letter of Intent Day.  (For all of you non football fans – its the day when high school seniors “commit” to the university which they will attend and play football.  Its the day they make their intentions clear. – who wouldn’t be excited about that, right?)

So anyway, college football fans will wait anxiously today to see if their school will commit enough talent to make the fans happy for the next 5 years.  This is one of those out of control, overly hyped days that make America what it is.

However, declaring your intent isn’t always hyped up.  Sometimes is a little, well unfortunate, like the two guys caught stealing Twinkies because they left their tracks in the snow.  They made their intentions well known to all.   However when it comes to our lives, intent isn’t hyped up enough.

Declaring our intentions is important.  No coach likes a player who is not certain which team his is going to play.  Likewise, deciding how your going to live is important as well.  Being intention in our actions or living with intent is good.  Deciding how you are going to approach situations in life ahead of time helps you deal with those situations when they occur.

Think about your intentions.  Fence sitting is really becoming less and less fashionable.  If you had to sign up today, where would you sign up?  And recall Joshua, and the day he declared his intention.

14 “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:1-15

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Happy Groundhog Day 2010

Wow, January is gone. I could not believe that yesterday was the first of February and that today is Groundhog Day!

Wow, January is gone. I could not believe that yesterday was the first of February and that today is Groundhog Day! ( ok that was a bad joke, I will not do that again.)

But really, can you believe 1/12 of 2010 is gone, and I am still writing the date as 20010. So, How are those resolutions going?  Are you changing yourself?  It was interesting how much I heard about casting resolutions away before they were even created back around the New Year.  It seems that we are conditioned that things will stay the same.  Is not expected that things can change.   However, we don’t expect that with our children?  We expect them to grow and mature and change, but at some point, somewhere in our life, we agree ( give up) and the expectations for change diminish.

With that mindset, it was interesting this weekend to hear one of my friends talk about some new believers, who are adults.  She was expressing how awesome and inspiring it was to “watch them change and grow” right before her eyes!

Take a look at 1 Corinthians 4:16

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

We are given a chance each day to change and grow.  I think we should start to expect change – each day.  Look at this verse I shared with Tennessee Jed(keep praying for him) yesterday from Galations 4:19

I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

Paul expected change in the Galatians.  I expect to see change in Tennessee Jed, as painful as it will be.  And I attempt each day to renew myself and expect some change.

How about you, Will you reset you expectations and reaffirm those resolutions.  In this short month, set some attainable goal(s) and go for it.  On this Groundhog Day, come out of your hole, take one look at your shadow and then change the season!

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Not Good Enough?

I have a friend, that we will call Tennessee Jed.  ( This is not his real name, and it is not a reference to my real friend Pittsfield Jed, whom I refer to often) Anyway, I have a friend, and lets call him Tennessee Jed.  Tennessee Jed has been struggling.  He has had some hardships in his life, but mostly, his is struggling spiritually.  He feels that he is “Not Good Enough”, and that he can never be “good enough”.   He finds that his struggles with not doing what he may really wants to do, or being who he wants to be make him worthless.  So worthless, that God would not ever care to look his way.   Some one has convinced him he is not in a so called chosen predestined group of followers, and he does not have any way to salvation.  He thinks that he is  so worthless, that his friends don’t even need to look his way.

He is a broken man, and I write about him today for two reasons:

If you can and you care to, please lift Tennessee Jed’s name up in prayer.

Second, maybe you struggle with the same thing.  TJ (Tennessee Jed), thinks he has to do something to earn God’s love, and the love of others.  His was brought up with a errant view of grace and mercy.  Sometimes we find ourselves in that same place – wanting to work and prove that we are worthy.  Its just doesn’t work that way.  Mercy and grace are  free gifts, and those gifts move us to work and impact others.

If you find yourself there, check out this from Ephesians 2.  Yes, sorry this is long, but as I started reading it this morning, it was so motivating, that I just could not cut it down.  I have highlighted key parts for you speed readers.

Ephesians 2

1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

11Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)— 12remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

14For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, 16and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

“He himself is our peace”  He is the way me escape the beat-down that we give ourselves.  If you find yourself in Tennessee Jed’s position, remember, you are right, you would never be good enough, except that grace and mercy are free gifts for everyone.  Take it. And find peace,  and become good enough for God.

What do you think?  I would love your comments.

DISCLAIMER: The is  a true story.  The names are changed to protect the innocent. And this is not a "I have a friend, but I mean me" story.