It's just my junk

We all have junk in our heads. This is mine.

Archive for the tag “giftedness”

21 Jul 2016

Perspective… does it matter?

It has been a while since I have last blogged.. but maybe you aren’t aware of that tidbit. Well, until I mentioned it.

I have been very busy with life, work and COS (think college without credit). But the very topic is the topic of discussion today. Perspective!

Perspective… the dictionary.com refers to it as a mental view point,

I have to admit I function 70% of the time within my own perspective. That being said, I admit to focusing on what I see. The lenses I see through most of the time are based on the following criteria…. Do your own list too..

  • Parents had me later in life (parents in mid 40’s); most thought they were my grandparents.
  • My sister is 20 years older than me; most thought she was my mom.
  • I have an identical twin; we don’t dress or act alike. (twin day isn’t really twin day it is dress like your best friend day.. we wouldn’t dress alike on purpose)
  • I am married to Shelly; therefore one man and one woman-married matters to me.
  • I have been blessed with four kids; therefore saying you have a handful with your two kids doesn’t carry a ton of weight for me.. if you say 6 then I am praying for you.
  • I was born in Michigan, therefore I am a Michigan fan; most think this it true. Or they should lol.
  • I refer to Michigan as God’s country; most don’t get it until they visit West Michigan.. Then they believe or are just in denial.
  • I am a youth minister; most think I am holier than them, nope just saved through grace like we all are.
  • I have a full time job; most think I have the weekends off.. nope Monday is my day off
  • Since I am a pastor I am always working; the reality is I need down time too.
  • If I don’t write it down it will not happen; most who know me know this truth.. it is a fact!
  • I have 3 girls and a son; most think I wanted kids until a son is born; reality is God blessed us with 4 individually awesome unique kids..
  • Most think my kids are or should be perfect due to my employment; however they are still kids and I can’t assume your kids is a rocket scientist because you are can I? for argument I do know a rocket scientist and his kids aren’t rock scientists….

I think you get my point…

So how do we deal with perspective?

The news has been all over cop shootings, cops shooting people and black lives matter.

I have been taught to respect authority, to care for and respect all life and everyone matters. I have been struggling to watch videos and news footage of people killing people, then people retaliating on people (even though they are different people than the one they had issues with) and so forth. It is a vicious cycle.

One video I watched showed an older white male trying to walk down the street, through a demonstration of black lives matter (African American women) who wouldn’t let him pass… they were making a point that black lives matter but demonstrated our protest (example) matters more than you walking down the street.

I know several police officers who are very good people. They care about their community, and being a safe person for those in need. They will do their job to the best of their ability within the law. They love their kids, they wives and work hard to keep us safe. They would never just shoot someone… in fact the ones I know have never drawn a gun on someone. They would rather avoid conflict than create it. Plus one said it is a lot of paperwork and who likes paperwork.

 

I have four kids (mentioned before) and they are all uniquely different. I am figuring out something finally. They are all wired differently and I need to adjust to their perspective if I am going to be used by God to help shape them into the people He has created them to be. I admit…. Most of the time I fail at this because I am concerned about my perspective not theirs.
I have done some poor perspectives when it comes to helping them grow, being a safe place for them to turn. It is a two way street but I always need to be the one looking at their perspective and determining the best communications possible to connect with them. Again.. I fail often here.. if you would ask them I would guess they would say fail more than not but it is perspective.

 

When someone sees me in the community, they assume I am working and bring up a work need or situation. However they wouldn’t think of being asked a question about their employment when they aren’t at work.. see the perspective changes how we respond to people. I admit again, times I fail at remembering their perspective and helping them learn mine.

 

As I mentioned before, I am in COS and our class is based on several books, bible books and writings. One of the objectives was to take strength finders assessment. This assessment helps you know your strengths with the hope you will focus to grow them more than you try to grow your weaknesses. The book (resources) believes it is better to grow your strengths and help others grow theirs as we align with others who have different strengths than we do to accomplish certain tasks. I felt this was a great way of looking at things but realize.. it is also perspective.

 

I am closing out this portion of the blog (which should be multiple posts but isn’t) with a thought.

How much better would our life be, our world be if we would take a deep breathe and look at it from others perspectives.. This might help us understand we all have needs, wants, opinions and perspectives. No one’s perspective is wrong to them, it is just that a perspective.

We can change the world by changing ourselves and looking to view things through others perspectives not assuming they all know ours….

 

 

 

Posted in life happens, sermonizing, speaking, Teaching Youth, think about it, time for action, Uncategorized, youth ministry leadership and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
02 Mar 2016
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I AM A BELIEVER! What about you?

I am a believer!

What do you believe?
Do you believe it will be ok?
Do you believe you will succeed in life?
Do you believe you can do great things?
Do you believe in yourself?
Do you believe God is creator?
Do you believe Jesus will save you?
Do you believe Jesus is preparing a place for you in heaven?

I am often filled with do you believe questions.. 

One Is usually, do I believe people will show up? Do I believe I am good enough? Do I believe I have what it takes to accomplish the task?

I assume you have your own set of “Do I believe” statements…. Maybe it would be good to take a minute to list them? That is totally up to you.

How much of the do I believes matter?

Don’t get me wrong but do they matter if we don’t do anything with the question..
We need to take action at some point to put it into practice, to begin working out the question into a statement… for example:

I believe it will be ok.
I believe I will succeed.
I believe I can do great things and be an impact person.
I believe in myself… not arrogantly but believe I have worth.
I believe God created all things
I believe Jesus saves me and prepares a place for me.

But there is a little gap between the question and the fact of belief. 

I truly know in my heart nobody makes it on belief alone… It takes time and work to work out one’s belief.

Here is a simple suggestion, surround yourself with people …

who will believe in you,…
who will keep you humble,…
who will encourage you,…
who will help you make a plan to accomplish your goals

I heard this is a recent sermon…. And it wrecked my world…

Believing in something is easy but having faith (living out that belief) isn’t easy.

Posted in sermonizing, speaking, Teaching Youth, think about it, time for action, Uncategorized, youth ministry leadership and tagged , , , , , , , , ,
08 Feb 2016

Unity in me? In my team? In my world? YES!

Unity…. Webster says Unity is:

  1. the state of being one; oneness
  2. a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one.
  3. the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification.
  4. absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character.”

What do you say unity is?
I define unity in two ways…

  1. being content within your own heart and self.
  2. getting along with a person or group of persons through a common source.

How we define unity is important. We need to have a common understanding on the definition and how it is played out within the group and each individual.

How your basketball team, swim team, music group defines and acts out unity is vital to the success, longevity and legacy of each group. We focus so much attention on me… we forget the importance of we. We focus so much attention on the now that we forget about the future.

Yeah, I know.. how can I possibly know the future we leave when I don’t know the me within the we now? I think this is the tension we all deal with throughout our careers, friendship and families. Smarter people than I have written books, taught classes and seminars etc. but I speak from my own heart…

John 17:21 That they might be ONE… There is value in being one, if there wasn’t God wouldn’t have mentioned it in the bible.

What can we gain from being one (unity)?

  1. We will have a better understanding of others. We will put others first.
  2. Our teams will not only look good but they will function and perform better…. Like state championship better. People will notice something is different with this team.
  3. The people who will follow us will be better prepared and will benefit from the hard work we have done to create, foster and encourage unity.

 

IF that isn’t enough… we will actually find some contentment within our own hearts and therefore better equipped to impact the world we live in.

Choose today to find unity within yourself…. Encourage within your team and display it for the world to see.

 

 

Posted in sermonizing, speaking, Teaching Youth, think about it, time for action, Uncategorized, youth ministry leadership and tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
16 Nov 2015

Part 4 of 8.. The plot twist… we like them in movies but what about real life?

plot twistProverbs 6:18a… God detests a heart that plots evil… This one is very much like the warning that preceded it.. Remember? Hands that kill the innocent.. our mind drives our actions eventually.
If you are anything like me, you like a movie with a good plot twist. The movie is flowing pretty good, we are anticipating the next move, then it happens… we are blindsided out of nowhere and we get plot twisted… everything we once thought was the fact, becomes different due to the change in plot.

God is calling us, warning us to guard our hearts from plotting evil. I would say our world is full of plot twits…

  • Divorce is a plot twist.. married happy ever after then something happens and plot twist.. divorce
  • A freak traffic accident is a plot twist.. everyone drives the road all the time, but one time an accident happens and plot twits… someone is hurt, our car is destroyed or even worse fixable but with tons of money
  • A star athlete is playing at the height of his or her league, making plans to finish the year at the state finals… then plot twist.. the athlete blows out a knee, their throwing arm or something that causes them to end their dreams early .. plot twist… they are now watching from the sidelines
  • Prom is coming, you have your eye on that special person.. you are about to ask them to prom and plot twist… someone beat you to it and they are no longer available to attend with you… Plot twist you compromise or just don’t go

So, how do we change out story to not plot evil? It is truly a large question we often ask when we see a school destroyed by violence, or a natural disaster, or a person we know who makes a poor choice and it affects their life forever.

I think we can continually work on doing good because it is good to do it. We can work on thinking before we speak, before we act, before we respond to a situation or person. We can very easily take a deep deep breathe and think of the out-come if we choose to plot twist in a way that causes us to do wrong (sin). I know it will take great energy but we could even go back to those we have wronged and seek forgiveness.

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24 Aug 2015

Would you Rather……

I think we all know of the book resource “would you Rather…” if not it is a book that youth leaders can use as discussion starters. It poses a would you rather question. For example.. would you rather be eaten alive or Burned at the stake? then the answers can be discussed to see why.

I thought of a few to challenge you with: Would you rather be

  • working or on vacation?
  • have it be Monday or Friday?
  • be married or single?
  • have children with one income  or no kids with dual income?
  • be in skinny due to food allergies or heavy due to working out?
  • sleeping til noon or waking up at 5am? sorry this is a poor one I know….. lol

What is your answer and why?  I must admit it is a trick question… there really isn’t a correct answer unless you say both matter?

the Book of Psalms chapter 46 verse 10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.”  You might be thinking but I am not a religious person… so that doesnt have to impact this verse.  You might be thinking what does this have to do with a would you rather Game? well I am not sure I can say it has a ton to do with it but I can share this thought….

How would our life be if we stood still for a moment… yes pondered the questions…

  • Would I rather be looking at Monday or Friday.? I would say Monday it is my day off… and I would say Friday, it starts my work weekend… the time I get to hang out and connect with people… so both answers offer me opportunity.
  • married or single? I am married and my life is more complete with a spouse but in my singleness it was a time of growing and complete as a single person, both are wins based on my attitude towards them.

I want to encourage you the reader to be still and know….. Be still and know you are::

  • the best you the world will ever know
  • in the process between life and death.. do something with it
  • you matter to people who you would consider not being an influence on
  • you have gifts and talents unique to only you.
  • you are one choice away from great victory or great defeat
  • you are YOU>>> that is the best You to be

I am not in anyways saying I have come to completeness in this area of my life… I am middle age, balding guy, with four kids and allergy to both milk and gluten and never met my great grandparents (my parents were 45 when I was born.. Yeah they were nuts).. it is a challenge people… but I am working to spend more time being still and less time running at 100 miles per hour…

tips… take a walk just to walk.. spend sometime listening to your favorite song just to listen.. do some cross-fit… who am I kidding.. just skip that one…

BE STILL AND KNOW>…..

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14 Jan 2015

Sign in and Password, Please

I have now am the not so proud owner of 5 different email addresses.. Not of my own doing mind you. I also have way to many sign on and passwords to manage. with that all being said… it has me thinking about several things in life that we have to keep track of…. Take a minute to create a list of things you need to keep an eye on…

1. Your kids…. lol
2. Your keys.. which might be harder to find than your kids
3. Your sign ons and passwords
4. Your purse or wallet
5. Your schedule for school… especially with new classes starting up
6. Your keys…
7. Your socks.. well I always seem to be one sock short
8. Your shoes

well, you get the idea, we have some important things to remember …. meetings, grocery lists, sports events, the kids musical performance… well their instrument too…

What about your sign on and password….with God?

Based on the list below where would you find yourself…

1. MIA.. never seen it
2. Always on my mind
3. Never forget it.. it is an auto sign on throughout the day.
4. My friend has those things for me
5. On the shelf some place….

Well this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone… we make our priorities just that… important.

The things that matter we make happen.
I would suggest the following ideas:

1. Plan some time to make a short list of things that matter.
2. Stick to your guns… make the important things matter.
3. Get some support… I use a sign on and password tool… what tool could you use to help in your day to day commitments?
4. Get some more support… I Funnel all my email accounts into one place.. again what tools can you use to help you?

I think this is a good starter list… try to look at your own life and add some or remove some to create a solid success list of accomplishment potential.

Well I am off to get my list started and to set myself up for great success
As soon  as I figure out my sign on and password to the list maker…. grrrrhhh

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23 Apr 2014

Teaming up to leave a legacy.. but not yours!

What if you were given a job, an opportunity or a gift? What would you do? Would you react immediately and take it? Would you think about it for a few minutes then decide?
What if the giver mentioned the importance of this gift and how it will impact those coming behind you?
I am sure this has you thinking….. maybe about presents or gifts or the ideal job or opportunity but you would be wrong.
I am talking about leaving a legacy…
For this post I want to talk about leaving a legacy in sports. I have the privilege of supporting our local high school’s girl’s basketball teams. Well to be honest it is all about supporting the coaches and coming along side them to help with their legacy.
I feel this is something God has placed in my path and I readily embrace it with great importance and focus. Allow me to explain and then challenge you:
The explanation…
1. God allowed me to be relational.
2. God put me in the path of the coaching staff.. actually the Head Coach.
3. Coach and I met over the idea of encouraging the players as athletes, students and future world changers
4. I offered to support the coach in anyway I could
5. Several seasons later… and still encouraging
6. I am excited to see the fruit of the coaches efforts and see the future being bright.
The Challenge:
1. What gifts did God give you that might help others be a legacy maker?
2. Who in your community…. yeah not the church or your office but the community?
3. What is their dream and how can you help them in the venture to accomplish it?
4. Okay, throw out a pitch….
you need to do your part to be prepared and ready. God will use you in mighty ways to minister to a whole population of people.
I will close with this comment…
I am not about any hidden agenda. I am focused on building a relationship with the coaching staff and their goals. Playing my part to help them leave a legacy.
Okay.. So, get on with it already!

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