Author: Tim

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And Suddenly it Makes Sense

Ever have someone explain a Bible verse to you in a way that makes you understand it better?

I recently heard someone talking about his teenage son’s hygiene habits, which were less than stellar.

“Son, don’t you think you should shower?”

“No Dad, I don’t need a shower.”

“Well son, you need to put on some deodorant.”

“No Dad, I don’t need deodorant.”

“Well you need to do something; what about cologne? Maybe you want to put some of that on.”

“No Dad, I don’t need cologne.”

“Son, what do you think about washing the car? Don’t you think that might be a good idea?”

“Dad, I’m not washing the car.”

But then, lo and behold, that boy found a young lady that caught his eye. All of a sudden he’s taking showers. He’s using deodorant. He’s putting on so much cologne it’s dangerous to strike a match anywhere near him. Now the car gets washed and waxed.

What changed? It wasn’t the world around him…it was the son’s outlook. The second half of Matthew 12:34 says “For the mouth speaks what overflows from the heart.” Another translation says “Your words show what is in your hearts.” It’s perfectly evident what happened in this kid’s heart. It wasn’t just his words, but his actions that showed what was on the inside.

Whatever your past contains, when you meet Jesus, your new desire to draw nearer to Him changes your outlook on life. Your heart’s perspective shifts away from the old stuff and toward something new.

If you’re already a Christ-follower, it’s your job to share Him with others. Even the people you’ve written off as “too far gone” can have a total change of heart upon meeting Him. If those people meet Christ, all the other aspects of their life start falling into place. The thing is, though, they need to hear about Him from you.

You don’t need to change their hearts; that will happen without you. It’s just your job to arrange the introduction.

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Someone Who’s Seen it All…Moved With Compassion

Imagine you had a medical condition that affected not only your health, but your physical appearance. I’m talking obvious enough people can see from a distance you’ve got this condition. It affects multiple aspects of your life, even to the point people don’t want to get too close to you for fear of contracting the condition themselves. It doesn’t take long for people to associate you with the condition, seeing the two as synonymous.

Now imagine the condition vanishes. It’s just gone, no trace. People see you and begin to steer clear, but do double-takes as the two of you pass by one another. “Wait a minute, what happened?” They’ll motion toward you and lean in and whisper something to their companions. At some point someone’s going to approach you and ask what’s on everybody’s mind: what happened to you? How did something so wrong go away so fast?

In Mark chapter 1, we read a story about someone who took it a step further. Jesus healed a leper…someone whose condition was so bad he had to live in isolation from the healthy. Jesus told him afterwards “don’t tell anyone what happened here.” Was Jesus serious? The healed man couldn’t contain himself and went out and broadcast what had happened to anyone who would listen.

These events don’t seem quite right. Jesus had to know the guy wouldn’t be able to stay quiet on the matter, so why would He tell the guy not to tell anyone?

He told him not to spread the news because Christ knew it would sabotage His ministry to a degree. Rather than coming to hear what He was saying, crowds would instead gather to see miracles…people wanted to be entertained by a performer, not told to change their lifestyle and religious practices.

This brings up a question. If Jesus didn’t want His ministry to be undercut, why didn’t He simply avoid the leper or turn him away? It’s an interesting point to ponder, and I’d argue it’s because Christ was moved with compassion by a man who had strong faith in Him. How could the embodied Creator of the world turn away one of His creations, especially one who possessed full faith in Him when faith was so lacking in others?

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of times God says “no,” even to His faithful followers. On this occasion, though, He was “moved with compassion” and chose to grant the man His petition. Unfortunately, after this event Jesus couldn’t even get close to the city without being mobbed, and His ministry in this spot had to adapt into something different. (Fortunately, the Lord was able to make due. Yes, he avoided the city, but people flocked to him from all over even when he wandered through desolate areas after this.)

Our God is the God of compassion. Approach Him in prayer with a humble heart and clean conscience, and make your petition known. You may just prompt the Lord of the universe to move with compassion.

40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.”

41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” 42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

45 However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.

Mark 1:40-45

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Quick Hit: That Could’ve Turned Out Way Different!

Well, another school year has come and gone. More than any of his report cards or achievements in extracurricular activities that came this year, I’d like to celebrate one of my son’s accomplishments.

A middle school lunchroom is not a fun place to be. It’s bustling, it’s loud, and I probably picture a little bit of a prison chow hall when I think of one. One day this past school year, a kid sitting near my son started choking on his food. The obvious look of distress on his face gave it away. My son asked him if he was choking, and the kid nodded with wide open eyes.

“Stand up.” My son walked behind him and did the Heimlich once or twice, dislodging the problematic food chunk. The kid was able to breathe normally after that, thankfully. During the whole episode, which probably lasted 30 seconds or less, no teachers or lunch proctors noticed. My son said only about three or four kids in the immediate area realized what was going on and witnessed the event.

I’m not sure where he learned the Heimlich Maneuver, but I’m glad he did. Way to go, Pal! I’m proud of you!

Have you ever been in a setting where you assumed you were there for one reason, but in reality your presence ended up being pivotal for something different? Don’t make the mistake of thinking God can only do one thing at a time through you. God can use you, His beloved, to walk, chew gum, and do yo-yo tricks all at the same time.

You limit what God can accomplish through you when you restrict your willingness to do the different things He calls you to. If that’s something you’re doing, God’s not the limiting factor…you are.

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I Can’t Do That…At Least Not Yet

I was NOT a good swimmer when I first began lifeguard training. I barely passed the swimming requirement to even get into the class.

Our instructor was very aware of this, and she knew we all needed to build swimming proficiency. Each time we gathered for class, we split our time between classroom instruction and water skills. Whenever we got in the water, our first task was to swim 25 lengths of the pool, about 500 yards.

If we met for class two or three times a week, this consistency helped build the right kind of muscle, develop comfort in the water, and improve technique. Before long, I got much better at swimming. Instead of just barely getting from wall to wall, my strokes began generating the power needed to propel myself through the water, rather than merely dragging myself through it. I wasn’t going to win any awards, but 500 yards stopped being an intimidating thing, and I grew in confidence that I could handle more than I thought I could.

The key to nurturing and developing a nascent talent is to continue nurturing and developing it. Consistency pays off. Sometimes building muscle is part of it, but more often it’s a repeated demonstration to yourself that things either 1. are, in fact, achievable, or 2. aren’t as impossible as you once thought. You have to train your mind to say “yes, I can wade into uncomfortable territory and come out of it stronger.”

You can apply this lens to both Christian and secular challenges:

  • Repeatedly venturing outside your comfort zone helps you become comfortable being uncomfortable.
  • Overcoming an intimidating obstacle means the next obstacle has to be bigger if it wants to generate the same level of fear in you.
  • Being faithful in the little things trains you to be faithful in the big things; if you can’t handle small responsibilities, why should you be trusted with big ones? Showing yourself worthy of the strengths and abilities God gives you for the sake of performing small tasks demonstrates you can handle greater responsibility.
  • Trusting in and relying on God during difficult times helps you trust in and rely on Him more deeply all the time.

Showing up and being consistent is important. Starting something difficult means you begin chipping away at it; if you keep at it, you’ll eventually do things you didn’t think were possible. On the other hand, looking at something difficult and deciding not to even try means your fight with it is over before it begins.

Will you rise to the challenge? Demonstrate consistency. It starts with showing up.

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Cheech and Chong Dodge Tornadoes

This time of year all the thunderstorms and tornado warnings remind me of a weather event I was happy to survive in my younger days.

After college I worked in the field of residential construction for about a year and a half. The company I worked for had a large free-standing garage/shed where it stored its work vehicles, extra equipment, etc. I’d usually drive my car to this place in the mornings and switch vehicles, trading my car for the company vehicle. It was this beat-up white van with a roof rack. It was the kind that only had windows in the driver and passenger doors, along with the windshield and windows in the back doors. The interior of the van had a whole bunch of shelves and hooks installed, with all kinds of equipment rolling or swinging around as we drove. There were only two actual seats inside, and whenever we had a third guy, he’d sit in the back on an upside-down 5-gallon bucket (affectionately called “the bucket seat”). The van kind of looked like something a stoner would drive in a Cheech and Chong movie, so one of the guys started calling it the “Cheeba Van” and the name stuck.

One time we wrapped up work at the jobsite for the day and started heading our separate ways. As I drove back to the garage the sky started turning pretty ominous, and got dark very quickly. Before I traveled very far, rain started pouring down in sheets. Traffic on the road slowed way down, and that familiar tone from the emergency broadcast system came on the radio. “Severe storms in the area, with the potential for tornadic activity.”

I kept driving, turning onto a smaller road I usually took to get back to the garage. It was still windy and pouring rain as I drove along, and I came across a tree that had fallen and blocked the road. Not really knowing what else to do, I backed up and turned around, then started using an alternate route to get where I wanted to go. Before long I came upon another tree blocking the road. It’s like these things were coming down so frequently, emergency services crews didn’t even know about them (and this was in the good old days before I had a cell phone to report them).

Running out of passable roads, I tried yet another route. I was driving very cautiously now, half expecting to encounter a third road-blocking obstacle. Happily, this road allowed me to get to the garage, and even though it was still raining pretty hard, I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned onto the gravel driveway to swap vehicles. I was thankful the garage was large enough for both vehicles to fit inside without having to come out in the rain. I got close to the building and hit the garage door opener…but nothing happened. Trying again, then again, it became obvious the power was out, and the door wouldn’t be opening anytime soon. Sitting there with pursed lips and the windshield wipers still on high, I pondered my next move. Looks like I was driving the Cheeba van home tonight. It didn’t look real great parked in the driveway.

I found out later a weak tornado had touched down in the area early in my route back to the garage. I missed the worst of it by a few minutes, but I dealt with some of the carnage on roads in nearby areas.

We don’t often think about it, but it’s kind of fun to see just how easily the Lord can funnel you in the direction He wants you to go. I was very familiar with the area; these were roads I traveled while riding a school bus, and I first learned how to drive on them. There were at least half a dozen ways to get to where I was trying to go. I don’t know that the Lord had a purpose for pushing me in certain directions (other than for this illustration, perhaps), but He said “Nope, I don’t want you to go that way.” “Now I want you over here.”

As God steers your life along and diverts you from your planned route in the process, it can be easy to focus on the inconvenience of having to be flexible. Sometimes the derailment is relatively minor and it’s not a big deal even an hour later; other times you have to mourn the loss of what you imagined the future would be like, and that’s an incredibly difficult thing. Though it might take a long time to accept, God always has been, and always will be, in control of the situation. He’s steering you toward His desired outcome, using your story for the eventuality He wants.

Lord, it can be a hard thing to accept that when Your will differs from mine, Yours always wins. Sometimes these differences aren’t a big deal, but others can feel soul-crushing. Help me have the right attitude through it all. Please give me patience, mental strength, and a humble heart as I work on accepting that You don’t need my permission to guide the events and circumstances of my life. Amen.

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Dude, Living Out Your Calling Can Be HARD!

Let’s get real for a little bit here. Sometimes trying to follow God’s calling…is hard!

Back during the Covid years, I felt like God called me to do something really audacious. Despite never having published anything professionally, or not having written fiction stories since elementary school, I felt like God was calling me to write a series of fictional Christian novels.

Truth be told, it was kind of a miraculous experience to be a part of. When it comes to big, bold ideas, I’m actually pretty organized. I started spreadsheets to lay out this monstrous storyline, and the ideas just kept coming. Ideas would kind of fester for a bit, then evolve into something a little smoother. More details would come to mind, and they’d work really well. I took all kinds of notes for each of the stories that would eventually be part of the series. Things have changed a bit since the original nascent ideas, but overall the plots started coming together. It’s one of those times where it was perfectly evident only God could allow all the ideas to fall into place.

Eventually I figured I needed to have seven distinct stories, though some of the stories were multi-volume, so it came out to be 10 different books. I tried starting at the beginning of the series, and I worked on that for awhile. Then I tried dabbling in the second story for a bit, but the one I really wanted to get to work on was the fifth story. I’d be focused on the first or second story, but I kept getting more and more ideas about the fifth one. They’ve all got to get written, so I got started on the one I was excited about. That’s still the one I’m most pumped about, and it’s the one where I’ve made the most progress.

But fast forward a few years, and how are things going? Well, to be honest, things have kind of stalled. I’m still excited about the idea of getting these stories written out, but I don’t seem to have the time or energy to focus on them. Covid faded into the background, and normal life, along with all its distractions and energy sucks, returned. As the kids started becoming teenagers, my time and mental energy started getting siphoned off into other things.

I can’t dismiss the importance of this effort, though. Of all the things I feel like God’s called me to do in my life, I feel like this is the biggest, grandest, boldest thing yet He’s challenged me with. Years from now, after I’m gone, whatever legacy I leave behind, I feel like this project is supposed to be a part of it. I am still highly enthusiastic about working on this series, but it’s as though God said “look, I want you to stay pumped about this, but I’m going to put it on ice for now. The timing’s just not right. Maintain your motivation, because I’m coming back to this later.”

So what do I do? Generally the longer things sit, the tougher they are to get going again. This whole thing could die on the vine, if I let it. The choice is really up to me. Fortunately I’ve been blessed with much faith. I don’t know what God’s eventual plan for this project is, but it’s helpful for me to think about how things have changed since Christ rose again. In the Old Testament, it was only a select few that the Holy Spirit rested on; now it’s every single Christ-follower. We all have access to the same off-the-charts empowerment that Moses, Gideon, Samson, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, David, and other famous Biblical characters had. How can I doubt that if the Lord chooses, He’ll equip me to figuratively move mountains for the sake of achieving what He wants me to achieve? The task for now? Prevent my attitude from becoming the weak link in getting this done (which may not be for a period of many years from now).

In the meantime, here are some Bible verses to help me stay focused and motivated, even when progress is painfully slow.

But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. -2 Chronicles 15:7

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. –Galatians 6:9

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. – Isaiah 41:10

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. – Jeremiah 21:11

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” –Matthew 19:26

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28

Are you in the same boat I am? Motivation can be hard to maintain. Don’t give up; the world is waiting for you to become the person you were born to be.

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It’s Just a Little Trick, But it Works Really Well Against Us

Here’s a little trick the devil likes to use on a lot of folks. The reason he uses it frequently on people is because, unfortunately, it’s so effective at hamstringing them.

Have you ever noticed how you keep remembering examples of your own character failures, even long after they occurred? Letting people down, perhaps, or letting yourself down, or even going left when you should’ve gone right…all sorts of things that you should have been able to shake from your memory by now, but haven’t. Why can’t you move on from these failures?

You can’t forget them because fallen angels are constantly reminding you about them.

You see, what Satan and his forces are constantly doing is reminding you of things God’s already forgotten. You are human. You make mistakes. You ask forgiveness for those mistakes, you learn the lesson, you deal with the consequences, and you move on. When you’re living your life for Christ and things are going well, these little reminders get whispered into your ear. When you turn inward and withdraw from others, they’re also whispered into your ear.

Why? Why would the Lord’s enemy want God’s followers downcast and morose? Quite simply, to make you less effective as a Christ-follower. Joy is one of the Fruits of the Spirit. Robbing you of it makes the Spirit appear less powerful, even though it’s not true. It also hurts your testimony. The nagging thoughts of failure or regret are intentionally placed in your mind to pull you off your spiritual “A Game” and keep you huddled in the corner.

Focus instead on the truth: if Christ is your Savior, you’re a child of the living God. You’re forgiven. Those infractions are blotted out in Christ’s book. It’s time to look toward the future, not the past. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you can achieve unbelievable things, either to impact the Kingdom of God or for God’s sheer enjoyment of seeing somebody He created do exactly what they were created to do.

Learn from your mistakes, but don’t dwell on them. As the last few grains of sand slip through the hourglass of your life, your goal should be to have no potential remaining. The Lord created us with a lot of potential; don’t let yourself become self-limiting.

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Beware The Shifting Sands of Situational Ethics

Personnel issues in the military can be funny things. The military is usually trying to either grow or shrink the number of troops it’s got in its ranks. Depending on the prevailing environment, a kick-you-out infraction may not always mean you get kicked out.

For example, I joined the Air Force in the 2003/2004 timeframe. We had heavy commitments in both Afghanistan and Iraq at the time. Even though it was an era of high patriotism in the nation (just a couple years after 9/11), the various branches of the military began having trouble recruiting enough folks to maintain troop levels.

During “shrink the force” environments, the brass makes it easy to kick people out. If you get a DUI during such a time, for example, you just gave your leadership everything it needs to discharge you. Instead of getting three strikes, you might only get one. On the flip side, when the military’s trying to keep everyone it has and is still losing numbers from casualties and natural attrition, you might get six or seven strikes and still be okay.

I forget this one guy’s first name, but I’ll call him Rodney. Rodney had a big mouth and a bad attitude. He had skills in what we were training for, but the guy just kept getting in trouble for one thing after another. I’m not sure which straw broke the camel’s back, but our leadership decided they’d rather try to reform him than lose him, so they sent him to corrective custody. Corrective custody is probably best described as being a combination of basic training and some kind of prison. For example, you could go to the bathroom, but you had to ask permission, and permission had to be granted in, like, half a dozen steps or something like that. If you didn’t do things according to the way you were instructed, you ain’t makin’ it to the latrine in time.

When Rodney came back from corrective custody, it was “yes, Sir,” “no, Sir,” and “please and thank you, Sir.”

Thinking back to those days, it might be a little extreme to say it this way, but there were some pretty worthless human beings in the military at the time. You hear stories about people that are problematic during times of peace, yet are absolute heroes under fire, and those are cool stories, but sometimes you’ve just got people that are fulltime sandbags and oxygen thieves. Rodney was on the shiny side of borderline, but it was good enough for leadership to say “let’s try to get him where he needs to be.”

Now imagine someone with a love so unfathomable, so bottomless, that He says “I’m willing to die for the benefit of all those sandbags and oxygen thieves.” Unbelievably, that same someone knows full well “yes, most of them will reject what I offer them,” but died on their behalf all the same! What kind of love is this?

This is the love that Jesus Christ, the one and only son of God, extends to all of us. All of us were born into a world of sin, separated from God and Heaven by our imperfection. The sinless Christ, both fully God and fully man, died on our behalf to bridge the gap we can’t cross on our own. He presented Himself as a sacrifice to God the Father, once and for all creating a pathway to the Lord’s presence for us sinners. That pathway runs through Jesus Christ alone, and He offers it to all of us, regardless of our “worthiness.” We’re all unworthy. Yet due to that matchless love, we’re all invited. Won’t you accept His invitation?

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It’s Nice To Have Some Guiding Principles

Every August for the past 9 years, I’ve been virtually attending a two-day leadership conference. I’ve listened to talks from all sorts of performance experts, team builders, authorities on communication, generational specialists, and leaders from the commercial, government, and religious sectors. The conference’s whole mindset is that anyone who possesses influence is a leader. That includes most people on the planet. Building on that theme, the conference also embraces the notion “everyone wins when leaders get better.”

Going back through my notes from those past years, here are some of the main “bumper sticker” points I came away with. Not all of these are easy to remember, but I hope you can apply at least a few of them in your own situations, whether they’re professional or personal contexts. It’s also helpful to review this list from time to time. I’ll add a little note here that this is an annual conference sponsored by a religious organization; while I recognize not everyone reading this is religious, you can still walk away with a lot of good stuff here. Feel free to comment on any items here that really hit home for you.

You get more of what you tolerate. The things you accept are what you’ll get more of.

Leaders add value to people.

Courage is the 20-second sprint. Tenacity is the 4-hour marathon.

Success isn’t about talent; it’s about drive.

Your life moves in the direction of your strongest thoughts. “What you’re thinking is what you’re becoming.” -Muhammad Ali

Busy leaders don’t change the world; focused leaders do. Don’t be afraid to say “no” to things that distract you from your mission. (Build your own “To Don’t” list: “I won’t do X until I complete Y.”)

Conformity is the quickest path to mediocrity. Greatness is born in the extremes.

Appreciate people more than you think you should, then double that amount (and then round up). Good leaders make you think they are important. Great leaders make you believe YOU are important.

When God gives a challenge to you and nobody else, don’t be surprised when nobody else understands it.

Apathy makes excuses. Obsession finds a way. “Good” requires motivation. “Great” requires obsession.

This is only the middle of the story. Whether good or bad, look ahead to what’s still coming.

Great leaders don’t cast blame, they take responsibility.

The pathway to your greatest potential often goes through your greatest fear. The difference between where you are and where you could be is the painful decision you’re unwilling to make.

The amount of busy work always expands to fill the amount of time you allot for it.

“Multiply your time” by giving yourself permission to spend time on things today that will give you more time tomorrow. Automation is to your time what compound interest is to your money. Institute the “30 times” rule – Be willing to spend up to 30 times the amount of time it takes to perform a task on actually training someone else to perform it for you. For a 5-minute task, be willing to spend up to 150 minutes to fully train them on it. It will pay you back in the long run.

If you don’t answer God’s call, He’ll call someone else. You already have everything you need to start doing what you’ve been called to do.

“Priming” people has a way of generating the outcome you want. Keep telling students they’re smart and they’ll perform better on tests. Keep telling people they’re polite and they’ll interrupt less.

When doing great things, anticipate hardship. Everything worthwhile is uphill. If you’re holding the football, you’re going to get tackled.

People can handle change; it’s the uncertainty they have a hard time with. Tell them what to expect. People will follow you if you paint a vivid picture of what’s coming.

There are six qualities needed to lead well through a crisis: Intelligence, Curiosity, Humility, Resilience, Empathy, and Integrity

Holding grudges is a form of arrested development. Learn from the past, but don’t let it control you.

Everyone draws criticism; decide what trait/characteristic you’re most willing to be criticized for, and lean into it.

Just because someone’s wrong in your eyes doesn’t mean they’re worthless.

When things are uncertain, what’s most important to you becomes clear.

Comfort and safety are enemies of success.

A desire to fit in can harm your authenticity. Own what makes you authentic. Contrast, rather than compare, yourself to others.

Bad behavior is an unskilled expression of an unmet need.

Discipline is choosing what you want most over choosing what you want now.

When disagreement surfaces, progress with humility.

Don’t take your gifts to Heaven; Heaven doesn’t need them.

It’s not the leader’s job to innovate; their job is to create the conditions that allow great innovations to happen.

People are impressed with your strengths, but they connect with your weaknesses. Be transparent.

It’s not what you do occasionally that matters, the things you do consistently matter.

“Good enough” is the enemy of game-changers, but know when “good” is “good enough to move on.” Pursuit of excellence will motivate you, but pursuit of perfection will limit you.

You may be disappointed if you trust too much, but you’ll limit your leadership if you don’t trust enough.

Poor performance is especially contagious. The best predictor of a team’s success is not the best performer or the average performer, but the bottom performer.

Loss of trust happens fast. Gossip destroys trust, and people take notice if you, as a leader, are engaging in it.

Condoleeza Rice on life in DC: “Everything’s always nuclear war. In reality, sometimes it’s just paper clips.”

Foster an open, no-blame culture. This environment creates openness and a willingness to own mistakes.

Battle complacency. Pick your counterpart on a rival team and do your job better than they do theirs.

Dominate via the aggregation of marginal gains. Make multiple 1% improvements to the enterprise. No aspect of the process is too small to improve on. You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.

When building new habits from scratch, use the 2-minute rule. Habits must be established before they can be improved upon. When starting from nothing, don’t do anything for longer than 2 minutes. “Showing up” gets habitual, and from there you can improve the quality of the habit.

Rejection is sometimes God’s protection. God: “You’re not rejected; I just hid your value from them because they have no part in the destiny I’m assigning you.”

Look for these things in the people you’re going to trust, and be them for the people you’re asking to trust you:

  1. Empathy: We trust someone when we feel they understand us. We need to feel understood before we give trust.
  2. Motive: You sense people’s motives and feel suspicious when you think their motive isn’t in your own interest.
  3. Ability: Do they have it within themselves to execute the thing I’m trusting them to do?
  4. Character/Composition: Not all character strengths are appropriate all the time. You don’t call a SEAL when your aunt gets cancer, and you don’t need a book club friend when it’s time to reach down deep for a big personal challenge. Displaying the right strength at the right time is important.
  5. Track record: What’s their history look like? Forgiveness is free, but trust is earned.

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care…about them.

Just because I’m right doesn’t mean you’re wrong (and vice versa).

You can’t use your long-past experience as a 25-year-old to relate to today’s 25-year-olds. Times are vastly different.

Remember the power of “yet.” Consider “I’m not good at this” vs. “I’m not good at this…yet.”

Communicate enough that everyone on the team understands the vision and can contribute their own version of excellence. The goal is bounded autonomy.

You are more than the worst thing that ever happened to you. So are your teammates.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is assuming all your thoughts are correct. Have the humility to challenge your own assumptions.

There’s a level of psychological safety necessary for high-performance teams. On those teams, you can ask questions, suggest new ideas, and admit when you’re wrong without the team treating you unkindly.

You only get to fix mistakes you take ownership of.

Self-awareness leads to “others awareness.”

Solid Emotional Intelligence comes from mastery of these four progressive skills:

  1. Self-awareness – Recognizing your emotions and being prepared to react to them
  2. Self-management – Using this awareness to produce the outcome you want
  3. Social awareness – Recognizing and understanding the emotions and perspectives of others
  4. Relationship management – Using awareness of yours plus others’ emotions to manage interactions

There will always be more good ideas than there will be capacity to execute. Learn how to say “no” to the things that don’t contribute to the team’s goals.

People who have enjoyed working for a given leader have usually felt valued, inspired, and empowered. Seek to provide those things to the people under or around you.

When you delegate tasks, you create followers. When you delegate authority, you create leaders.

You have your own recipe for success, so stop trying to steal someone else’s. Don’t become someone else at the expense of who you are. Be you and don’t be sorry about it.

Impressing someone is not the same as connecting with them.

It’s not your job to feed the 5000; it’s your job to provide the loaves and fish.

Which of these stuck out to you? Did any of them hit a little too close to home?

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Every Christian Generation Thinks It Could Be the Last One

Ever wonder why God leaves things murky when it comes to the timing of the Rapture, the Tribulation, and other aspects of the End Times? I mean, we know some of the sequencing of that stuff, but we don’t know the year, decade, or century it’s supposed to happen. We’ve struggled with this for almost 2,000 years. Why do you think that is?

All scripture is God-inspired, so we can be assured that even though imperfect men wrote it, it includes the information, even the specific words, God wanted to show up in scripture. One of the most vague choices is the way timing-related words get employed.

Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. Revelation 22:12

On occasions like this, it can be frustrating to have a different definition of words like “soon” than the Lord does. Was He intentionally misleading us when these scriptures were first recorded? I don’t think so. God may give scant details sometimes, but I don’t seen Him as intentionally misleading.

The Son of Man will come at an hour

when you do not expect Him.

Matthew 24:44

Consider, for example, how your decisions might change if you believed something was imminent. If you knew you had three weeks to live, would you do anything differently? You’d adjust your decisions accordingly; you’d prioritize what was really important in life, wouldn’t you? It shifts your mindset from a marathon to a sprint. Why? So you drop the distractions. So you live well. Scripture hints at this mentality and lifestyle:

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 1 Peter 4:7

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Revelation 3:11

I think the Holy Spirit left this ambiguity in scripture because He wants every generation to be ready. Readiness and a watchful state of alertness are what He wants from us. Believing time is short helps facilitate this mindset.