Echo Thoughts
- We are all creative, every one of us.
- Take time to listen, then listen some more.
- Quit thinking about what God has put on your heart — do it.
- Be available, take risks, prepare to “Go Big”. Stop letting yourself stall out.
- Communicate clearly, know who you are communicating with.
- Take time for others. Know their name. That is a start to a new conversation and relationship.
- Fatherlessness is killing the U.S. What can you do about it? TheMentoringProject.org
- Tell a better story, people are rarely moved by stats and goals but by a STORY. — Donald Miller
- Go Big or Go Home – Help others execute their big vision. Your big vision will come and then you will be ready.
- Have a strategy, a plan, execute it, measure it and revise it. (repeat)
- We are not the hero. Jesus is.
Had a great time at the Echo Conference this year. Met some great people with common vision and goals. Loved sharing thoughts and ideas with peers and hearing from those who are in our world everyday. Love seeing the movement of the church and how it is again becoming less and less about the medium and more and more about the Message.
More about Echo Conference 2010 via Twitter #Echo10, Flickr Echo Conference and Echo site.
Paradise
It has now been a month since I have relocated to Paradise, Texas. For the first time in four weeks I have been able to spend more than three days in a row with my beautiful wife and two amazing kiddos! I thought it would be tough but tolerable to be here without them waiting for school to end and for the house to sell. It’s been tougher than I could have imagined. The good news is we are moving our essentials up this weekend!
Imagine 81 acres in the country with a stocked fishing pond, a metal barn that has been converted into a house and wide open space to roam. There is also a creek that cuts through the rock & hills lined with huge trees! Every bit of the area was created to photograph. Beautiful wild Texas flowers, tall grass perfect for horses, cattle and a spectacular sunset every night! God knows what we desire and in time He speaks.
This was a very tough transition for us relationally – we are starting over 100% in every way. For me things went quiet almost over night. Timing is never what we expect but each step has been one of faith – and believe me mountains have moved. For Myra she is leaving so many great friends and memories. But somehow it seems like God is underlining that He created us to do life together. He has a purpose for us that we do not yet fully see or even understand and that He desires our full attention.
Funny – how just two years ago I sat in my car in a shopping mall parking lot reading over with the faith of a mustard seed we could move mountains. I literally began to pray for mountains to move, for anything to move – for one particular brick on a wall to just move an inch! I trust God, I have faith that He loves us and would do anything for us – He truly does want to give us our heart’s desire – it’s just not the way we ask or expect sometimes. Honestly, I began to pray that He would give us Colby back – that losing him had caused so much pain – left wounds that we could not repair. Just as in 2 Kings – I expected for God to raise him and give him back to us. I truly believe God could do that and I wanted to see it happen. That we did not deserve to lose our son and that Colby did not deserve to go at the age of three – especially to Cancer.
For the next two years – I prayed, pushed, ran out of patience and let myself burn out. I was insistent on my timing for everything; our finances, my marriage, for leaders to lead & love, for negative or blinded people to find Jesus again – to forgive. I had faith that a mountain would move but I was more focused on my wants rather than His will. Even though I was not asking for anything out of the norm – I was unknowingly expecting it to happen now. I was fighting God. Again. I kept it up until I exhausted everything in me.
When we tell God that we are in control we are taking the first steps to totally messing up. I promise. We can move mountains without God – it’s called dynamite – it ugly and destructive. It’s impatience, selfishness and hurtful. Blasting your way through a mountain to get your way is not His plan.
When questioning His plan and thinking about heading out with our own He allowed us to go through some of the toughest yet most clarifying trials in our life. He hammered us with trials and storms and each brought a clear choice. Each one with very clear consequences. It was then I heard clearly “it’s your will or Mine”. In his grace, He allowed us to see that he was in control, that we have no clue what’s best for us. He knows exactly who we are and how He wants to use us. We had to choose. Especially since we claim to believe that Jesus died for us – and that we are to spread His story to the world, but we could not be in His will without choosing Him every-time – not just when we feel like it. Every time.
Mountains have moved. Our hearts have moved. Our vision, passion and love have moved. Stone by stone I have seen the mountain move. I am grateful to have chosen Him every step of the way.
God thank you for who you are – we truly do get to experience Paradise with you, here on this earth if we simply seek and trust you. Thank you for calling us to a place where relationships are first – with You & with others. Thank you that we are on our way to being totally who you created us to be. Thank you for using us.
Twitter Search Operators “helpful”
How well you can operate something directly depends on what you know about it – how well you understand it. So how well you know something or someone is how well you will interact with it. It has a flow, a rhythm. You can’t just use it – without first learning it, studying the rules, techniques, it’s make up. Before you can master anything you must know it first.
So, how are you using Twitter search? Why is it even important? You’ll see.
Drive Conference 2010 *Inside North Point Church
Drive Conference Top Five Takeaways
North Point Church, Atlanta Georgia
Senior Pastor Andy Stanley
1. Pay Attention to Rhythm
There is a rhythm, flow or momentum in most everything we do: creative work, professional and personal growth, organizational or team growth. Rhythm can also be described as a season and most of the time will have a pattern.
We must pay attention – we must learn the rhythm of our community and church, staff and teams and fuel it when appropriate. Do not fight this natural rhythm – build into it and on it. Use it to propel your efforts.
2. Tension Can Be Healthy
Not all tension is a problem to be solved. It just needs to be managed. Teams need to have fun together, work hard together but also conflict or tension is expected if it is healthy and growing. We must learn the difference between a problem to be solved and a healthy tension. We must be comfortable leading, hearing and managing ongoing tension. Very important for members of the team to understand this principle.
- Excellence vs Financial Stewardship
- Feed the Flock vs Reach the Un-churched
- Build a Children’s Building vs Build an Orphanage
How to distinguish between problems to solve and tensions to manage.
- Does this problem or tension keep resurfacing?
- Do both sides have mature representation?
- Are the two side interdependent – or this is not an either or situation, we need both?
3. Clarify The Win
Understanding what the priority or measurement for success is one of the most important pieces to helping people and ultimately the organization succeed.
Define what the end goal is for your organization, for the weekend service, for any special project or goal – take time to define and underline why we are doing what we are doing and how it will be measured. Everyone must understand what “The Win” looks like. This helps everyone understand that decisions are based on the priority or desired impact.
4. Create A Culture Where Leaders Thrive
Culture Drives performance. Let leaders lead – even if there is risk involved. Try to minimize the risk and test out an idea and review the results? Great leaders to need high support and high challenge. If they do not have both they will either lean towards rebelling or boredom.
Define the vision & mission and wins of your culture. Measuring everything against those. Hire only those who are passionate and fit that culture. Leaders are very humble, they are ambitious and ready to serve. Continually observe staff providing opportunities and coach them appropriately.
5. Effectiveness Formula
For any project or deliverable pay attention to the level of quality delivered and expected acceptance. The end result will show you the actual effectiveness. Note: Top quality with low acceptance has little to no effectiveness.
Quality x Acceptance = Effectiveness
(ex: 10Q x 5A = 50%E) or (9Q x 10A = 90%E)
For Drive Conference 2010 downloads, media files and inside North Point Church resources visit their staff and leaders site: http://insidenorthpoint.org/
Movable
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Who are your neighbors – do you love them? If questionable maybe go back and read the first part – “LOVE the LORD your GOD” – with everything you are. Do you love you? Who God created you to be? On a scale of 0 to 10 how much do you really love who you are and the life you have right now? Do you have a clear understanding what you are to do today? Are you right where you are supposed to be – or is it a place that would rank high “In Your Comfort Zone”? Have you stepped out to risk in FAITH?
What are you doing TODAY that takes a large amount of FAITH? Are you still MOVABLE? Would you step out and risk if He asked you to?
If you really want to know where God wants you – I challenge you to journal over the next 30 days – read proverbs and get on your knees each morning and thank God for what he has done in your life then ask him to reveal his plan for you. He made you – YES he has a plan for you. Seriously, just ask. Or if I have totally confused you with this random blog post – feel free to drop me a question. I know any step of FAITH is the best step you will ever take – you will never regret it. Seek Him and you will find Him and you will find you as well.
Download “Movable” art and more for FREE at http://www.creativemyk.com
Ministry + Media
Resurrection by Rob Bell http://vimeo.com/10639312 // thx @johnotjen
Easter with Family & Friends
Find Your Strengths + Build on Them
First, let me tell you that I am amazed at how precise Strengths Finder 2.0 is at identifying and communicating your strengths. I have been wanting to take our team through this book and survey for a while now and just recently took the test myself. Wow and you must put it to the test is all I can say. http://strengths.gallup.com/
Here is quick summary of what it provides in your Strengths Finder 2.0 Report
Report for Lundstudio aka me
- Learner
- Strategic
- Achiever
- Responsibility
- Arranger
Shared Theme Description
People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want
to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome,
excites them.
Your Personalized Strengths Insights
What makes you stand out?
Driven by your talents, you thirst for new ideas and knowledge. Often you lose yourself in a
book. You pore over the ideas contained on its pages for long stretches of time. Why? You
want to absorb as much information as you can. Instinctively, you occasionally sign up for
rigorous courses of study rather than enroll in easy classes. This might satisfy your need to
master things that do not come naturally. Perhaps you trust you can handle unpleasant or
difficult assignments. Maybe the struggle to expand your knowledge, broaden your skills,
conquer your limitations, or fix problems motivates you to welcome academic challenges. It’s
very likely that you sometimes enroll in difficult or demanding classes. You might aim to
expand your knowledge or challenge your thinking about certain things. Chances are good
that you expect to be kept in the information loop. You want to know everything that is
happening. You desire to be kept abreast of the latest changes, even those that do not directly
affect you. Not surprisingly, you can become quite upset or frustrated when someone
accidentally or intentionally fails to pass along news about important projects, deadlines,
discoveries, problems, or successes. Because of your strengths, you are drawn to the process
of gaining knowledge and skills. You long to build on what you already know. You yearn to
improve on what you already can do. When you meet people who value education as much as
you do, you are eager to hear about their personal or professional ambitions, intentions, or
goals. Understanding what others aim to accomplish in the coming weeks, months, or years
can be the beginning of a practical partnership or an enduring friendship.
Many more tools and details available after you take the online survey. Get started and see for yourself http://strengths.gallup.com/.
The Crick Family – Hospital Trek in New Zealand
My sister and her family are currently in New Zealand working to connect with the local church in Queenstown and surrounding area. My brother in law is suffering from major lower back pain and sounds like the doctors are saying he has a bulging disc. Lay-mans terms, lots of pain. Last night around 8:30pm an ambulance transported him to the nearest hospital with MRI scan capabilities so they could get an updated look at how bad his back is. Blows my mind what we take for granted here in the states. Quick info-graphic showing the trek. Took 3 hours to get there.
Google Map Link with more detail >>
Praying constantly for them. They are 100% supported by donations and are currently spending the last part of their savings on the medical expenses. You can learn more about The Crick Family at their blog. Thank you for joining us in praying for them and they definitely love reading and hearing your encouragement while they are on this journey. bit.ly/crickfamily
I will be more organized on my next post – just being a bit of a concerned brother at the moment.
Google’s Angel Investors
Who or what are you investing in? Google’s employees have done well since the company went public six years ago. Excellent article here at Business Week. Investing in people and ideas is something I am really digging right now. I can think of ten people right now who are interested in starting a company, three of them have a business plan and two of them are actually making it happen.
My little brother is down from Michigan for a couple of weeks. He is studying to be a chef and has some great experience. He has two years to go and is working towards his degree in culinary arts but it sounds like he is leaning towards traveling to experience different cultures and cuisine. It’s amazing to see when people come alive and passionate about something. He and I brainstormed for a couple of hours and he may test out a mobile cuisine service for their local Cherry Festival or Film Festival in Traverse City.
If he moves forward with it I will post updates and hopefully some video clips of his Journey. I believe in him – yes because he is my brother but also because he has experience, passion and is an excellent cook. The question is when the rubber meets the road. Would I invest in his journey? What could I do to help propel his efforts? I have a few ideas. It’s fun.
Fun topic. Just the start of it hopefully. =)
