The Two Most Powerful Words – Part 2

Well, I hope my last post had you turning the question over in your head, “what are the two most powerful words?”

The truth is, you are already in possession of the two most powerful words in existence (under the name of Jesus, of course). They are words that shape history, if used right. The funny thing is they are probably within the first 10 words that you ever learned. The first word I’m talking about is…. “yes“.

If you’ve watched the movies, “the Yes Man” or “Bucket List”, then you can understand the power in the word “yes”. “Yes” opens up possibilities. It seizes opportunity. Use “yes” when you want to throw yourself into an experience and come away with a story. Use the power of “yes” when you want to engage a new friend or meet a hurting person’s need.

I’m familiar with the word “yes”, because I’ve grown up in a “yes” family. My dad’s motto for us was always, “They’ve got to live before they die.” The word “yes” is the perfect solution for fear. Afraid of heights? Find a high dive and jump. Say “yes” to doing it and follow through. Afraid of living poor? Turn off cable for a month and give that money to a poor person. Want to learn how to dance? Enroll in a dance class today. Want to add a little more excitement to your marriage or family life? Don’t let it just remain a desire. Take the opportunity you have and say yes to doing something about it.

• Make a home movie
• Go hiking
• Go out for karaoke night

Want to be a part of God’s great commission? Invite someone who’s lost over for dinner just to spend time with them and hear their story.

The point is “yes” turns possibility and desire into reality.

So, before I tell you about the second word, why don’t we both start putting this into practice.

Let’s make a list of:

1. Fears
2. Gifts
3. Personal Goals
4. Family Goals
5. Occupational Goals
6. Ministry Goals

I’ll be posting my list up in the next few days. I’d love to share in your list as well.

Wanna take it a step further? Take this list and work out simple practical actions that you can do starting this week.

The Two Most Powerful Words

I’m about to share a secret with you. Well, it’s not so much a secret as it is a simple truth that’s been taken for granted. Nevertheless, this truth is powerful and has the potential to alter the way you live your life, the person you become, and the places you will go on your journey. By employing this truth, you can:

• Create golden memories
• Develop meaningful relationships
• Manage your finances better
• Cultivate the gifts you have
• And achieve the goals that you set for your life.

Are you ready? Good. I’ll give you a day to think about what these words could be. Let me know what you think. Talk to you tomorrow, my friend.

“What’s Your Story?” Month

What’s your story? Whether you have just met Jesus or have known him for a long time, you have a story to tell. It’s your story of redemption that often opens up your friend’s ears to hear about what Jesus can do in them. We want to cherish your story here on the Emerge Network. So let’s all do this together. If you’ve got a video camera, great! If not, then just type it out, but take some time this week to post your story of how you came to know Jesus. In a short, but meaningful response, answer these two questions, “Where did Jesus find you?” and “What happened in your life after he did?” Just reply to this forum with the appropriate text or embed code and post it on your own blog!

Is There No Vision?

Is There no Vision?

I have to admit I have an almost fanatical curiosity about the way organizational plans play out.  Whenever I find a textbook scenario playing out before my eyes I will stop what I am doing and observe the players, the play and try to figure out what the intended goal is.

Such was the case just recently when heading out for one of my yearling hiking/mountain climbing trips. 

 

Here is the scenario:

 This year the destination was Colorado.  So as usual my brother David and I running behind, and Atlanta is one of the busiest airports in the world.  Add to this equation what anyone paying attention knows; airline companies are in serious trouble.  9/11, the world-wide recession, skyrocketing fuel prices, reduction in travelers have created the perfect storm.  So you would think that in order to ensure travelers on any certain airline, customer service has to be number one.  Ok, one more variable. We have not flown American’s regional partner before so it is all new to us.

When we arrive we see the normal setup for Atlanta: there is the normal Self-Service Kiosks setup, but you still have to bring your bags to the check in agent to get them on a plane.  Now even though it is very early the line is seriously backed up.  When I scan the front counter I note that 4 ticket agents are working on one man’s problem.  At first I think, AHA! They understand, but another second glance and I can see they are actually ignoring the customer, who is becoming visually agitated.  They clearly do not know how the system works, and while they joke and laugh with each other the line is becoming longer with anxious travelers.  Now I note that they clearly think this is funny, and I wonder how long the 4 of them will continue, ignoring what is happening right in front of them.  Please keep in mind that I am not angry.  Something fascinating is happening here, and the absurd contradiction of what should be happening has me mesmerized. 

 Through some miracle they manage to get the tags out of the machine, and 2 agents go back to work while the other 2 disappear into the back. Thankfully, the line begins moving again.  When I step up the agent says gruffly without looking up, ” So Mr. Gray you missed your plane?”  I look at her nametag, and reply “Mary, as far as I can see the plane has not started boarding yet, and most of us in this line are on that plane. We have been waiting while you folks worked on the machine.”  To which she replied in the same gruff voice, “Well you didn’t put your bags in the kiosk, they are not in the system.”  With a broad smile (because I had already discussed this with my brother why we paid $15 extra for a single bag) I reply “Yes, ma’am I did but if it didn’t show up let’s go ahead and do it now.” 

For the sake of the story I think you get the idea.  This sort of treatment was repeated one customer after another; the plane was late, connections lost etc.  The reason I bring it up is because what happened at the counter was a direct result of what these employees believed about their job.  There is no doubt in my mind that many of those customers vowed never to fly that airline again.  However, if you were to ask the employees working the counter that day if they felt they gave excellent customer service, there is equal assurance they would enthusiastically reply, YES! 

Culture Contradictions

This apparent contradiction is made the more fascinating by how obvious it is.  Organizational culture does not happen overnight. It is precious when it is great and should be defended by every member. When it is bad, it takes the energy akin to escaping earth’s gravity to change it. 

I wondered as the plane finally took off for Houston if the folks at the top realized how the vision they cast for the company, if any, was being carried out in the most important spot: the check-in counter.  Where there is no vision the organization perishes!  Where the vision is not adopted the same thing happens. 

Ask yourself this question: What happened?  Something is wrong here and whatever leader-followership gap exists, it has allowed a culture of customer neglect to foster.  If you do not believe that leadership is important, this example shows the principles of leadership have a direct impact on the bottom line.

Casting Vision

Leaders are responsible to cast vision.  It must be simple and carefully crafted.  It also must be strategically ambiguous (more on that later).  This is not just a vision problem, it has a thread that runs through all the foundations of good leadership: communication, team-building, culture and environment.

Still think about this: Does your church give newcomers the cold shoulder? Do people steal from the till? Do employees seem not to care about what happens to the company? Is it hard to get people motivated to do a great job?  That starts with a vision, which is a leadership issue.  Recreate that scenario where excellent customer service is identified, believed in and carried out at the counter.  Can you cast vision for that? If you can you are well on your way to developing leadership skills.

Cultivating Purity (Pt. 2): Breaking it Down

After my last post you’re were either offended or intrigued by the thought of changing the way we think about purity and sin. Let me explain what I mean.

The Apostle Paul tries passionately to convince new believers that they are not made right with God by keeping a perfect record (Rom. 3:21-23, Phil 3:9, Gal 2:16). He states that we are made right with God by simply accepting Christ’s sacrifice for us as the adequate payment for our wrongdoings (past, present, and future). Be clear that neither he, nor I, are saying that you should just do whatever twirls your carousel. On the contrary, we still do the things that the law instructs, but not because we are cut off and defiled before God if we don’t.

As believers in Christ, that’s not to be our driving motivation for living a pure life. We live a pure life because it’s part of the character of Jesus that we want to develop in our lives.

So here’s how it works: Jesus makes us right with God by his sacrifice. That makes us pure in the “spiritual” sense. Then he gives us his Holy Spirit to help us develop a habit of purity in our daily lives. We then make daily decisions that determine the development of our character.

As long as we are focused on “not sinning”, we’ll keep circling back to the things we don’t want to do. I learned, from my dad, the saying ,“where the head goes, the body will follow”. Experts tell us that the best way to break a habit is not to focus on breaking it, but to replace it with a different one. So if you’ve got a bad habit like pornography, sexual promiscuity, fantasizing, etc., then the only way to break that habit is to develop a habit of purity.

For a few years, I’ve been making notes of the things that help to cultivate purity and faithfulness in my life. Here are a few things from my list:

• Write down one thing a day about my wife that I love
• Brag about her to other people, especially women
• Shut down all visual media at 11 pm every night at the latest
• Go to bed with my wife
• Be honest with her about everything
• Develop close friendships that I can be truthful about my life with
• Keep myself from being in private with someone of the opposite sex
• Invite my wife into every relationship I have with a girl
• Talk candidly about sex with my wife
• Study Song of Solomon for a godly perspective on sex and relationships
• Limit my TV time
• Learn to “bounce” my attention from temptation instead of meditating on how bad it is and that I shouldn’t look at it

There are plenty more things you can do, but the point is, purity isn’t something you protect from being destroyed. It’s something you cultivate and care for. Make it your quest to cultivate purity.

I’d love to hear some of your habits that help to cultivate purity in your life.

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