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Calling All Sinners & Misfits

September 21, 2011 in encouragement, Quotes with 5 Comments

Photo RT:

The older I get, the more I am coming to realize that everyone has a reason why they can’t or shouldn’t be used by God in an extraordinary way.

For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been teaching through the life of Gideon at Mosaic. Gideon is perhaps best known for his continual testing of God’s will through what is at times, unconventional means. Gideon was a man often overwhelmed by fear. For much of his life, it seemed Gideon could hardly take a step forward without questioning God, doubting his promises, and asking for reassurance. (I can sure related with that, how about you?)

And yet, in spite of his weakness, Continue Reading…

Leaders Are Not…

September 12, 2011 in Leadership, Quotes with 4 Comments

“Leaders are not what many people think–people with huge crowds following them. Leaders are people who go their own way without caring, or even looking to see whether anyone is following them. “Leadership qualities” are not the qualities that enable people to attract followers, but those that enable them to do without them. The include, at the very least, courage, endurance, patience, humor, flexibility, resourcefulness, determination, a keen sense of reality, and the ability to keep a cool and clear head even when things are going badly. This is the opposite of the “charisma” that we hear so much about.” – John Holt

Merton’s Prayer

February 9, 2011 in prayer, Quotes, Reflection with 3 Comments

Dirtroad
Yesterday I took a personal retreat to quiet myself and reconnect with my soul and Creator (something I have not done a very good job of over the past few weeks). During my time, I came across these words by Thomas Merton and they really resonated with me. Perhaps they will with you too.

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone." - Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

Seminary Web Gem

November 4, 2010 in Jesus, Quotes with 0 Comments

Jesus1951 Checkout this powerful quote by the early twentieth century scholar, Albert Schweizer:

"In the knowledge that He is the coming Son of Man [Jesus] lays hold of the wheel of the world to set it moving on that last revolution which is to bring all ordinary history to a close. It refuses to turn, and He throws Himself upon it. Then it does turn; and crushes Him. Instead of bringing in the eschatological conditions, He has destroyed them. The wheel rolls onward, and the mangled body of the one immeasurably great Man, who was strong enough to think of Himself as the spiritual ruler of mankind and to bend history to His purpose, is hanging upon it still. That is His victory and His reign."

What moving imagery. In fact, the life and work of Jesus moved Schweitzer on such a deeply personal level that he abandoned his academic career in his 30's in order to move to Africa in 1913 to do medical missions work. (Forty years later he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian efforts there.) All of this, despite the fact that Schweitzer missed the hugely important truth that Jesus is no longer hanging on a tree, but rather rose again in complete victory over sin and death as God's instrument of redemption. Incredible to think that even when not fully understood, a personal encounter with Jesus can change everything. 

Mosaic Thoughts on Communication

October 15, 2009 in Communication, L.A., Leadership, Mosaic, Quotes, The Church with 1 Comment

One of the things we do pretty regularly as part of the protege program is prepare and deliver 5 minute talks. (These are uniquely challenging because of how focused having just five minutes forces you to be!) The talks also give us a chance to put into practice some of the things we've been learning and give each other feedback on what we're doing well and where we need to grow in our communication (a big part of the program). This morning Hank Fortener, Mosaic campus pastor of the Mayan downtown joined us. His input and feedback is always so good and this morning was no exception. He are some of the things he shared that really stood out to me. I hope they prove as helpful to you as they were for me: 

Continue Reading…

Theology in Film

August 8, 2009 in Creativity, Film, Quotes with 0 Comments

Ratatouille3 “In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet
enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to
our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write
and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the
grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more
meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times
when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and
defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new
creations. The new needs friends." – Ratatouille

I know, it's tempting. I've done it. You've done. We've all done it at one time or another. But resist that natural urge to criticize the things you don't subscribe to. It's a waste of your time and energy. Instead, go create something beautiful with your life that serves humanity. Life's too short to be a critic.

Theology in Film

June 8, 2009 in Books, Film, Quotes, theology with 2 Comments

Kingdom-of-heaven-6

"I
put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of
fanatics of every denomination be called the will of god. I have seen too much
religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action, and
courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What god
desires is here [points to head] and here [points to heart] and what you decide
to do every day…" - Kingdom of Heaven

Theology in Film

May 9, 2009 in Film, Quotes with 0 Comments

Button3BENJAMIN BUTTON: For
what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever
you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change
or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the
worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that
startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet
people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of.
If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over
again.

Chase the Lion

May 5, 2009 in Daily Musings, Quotes with 0 Comments

Lion I came across this quote today by Mark Batterson that I absolutely love! He calls it the "Lion Chasers Manifesto." I am guessing it is found somewhere in his book that I am reading right now. It goes like this:

"Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.
Grab life by the mane. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained
passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine
intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking
God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop
repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe
and start taking risks. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies.
Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything
you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life.
Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right
with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating.
Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks.
Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit
holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion."

Ahhh, that might as well be my life's mission statement! Hey, my apologies for the sound of silence here lately. Ironically, I have been writing a ton of stuff for school and other projects. Today it dawned on me that much of what I have been working on has to do with life, ministry and leadership. So why not post some of it that might prove helpful? So all that to say that I've got a bunch of stuff I will begin rolling out over the next few weeks. Also, this last week a good friend of mine lovingly made me aware that, to his disappointment, I don't speak nearly enough about Mosaic on here (love you Drew). So I am going to try to be intentional about posting more Mosaic material and thoughts on here that I think might be helpful.

And speaking of Mosaic, me and a good friend of mine are spearheading an effort to get as many of Mosaic's videos available online as possible. So much great stuff has been created here that I think could really help pastors out and minister to faith communities around the world. The only caveat is that due to fuzzy copyrights, we are going to have to offer them for free. So I hope that is cool with you all. Stay tuned…

Mysticism

April 30, 2009 in Quotes with 0 Comments

Tre_tex_58

"Mysticism
keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health; when you
destroy mystery you create morbidity. The ordinary man has always been
sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic…He has always
cared more for truth than for consistency."

–G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

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