thoughts on life.

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A Lesson from Politics

Posted by on 25 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: thoughts on life., Town Council

I know, I haven’t been posting much lately. Instead, I’m made the switch from blogging to micro-blogging, i.e., twittering.
At twitter, I post multiple, brief updates every day as to how I’m doing or what’s going on at the moment. I encourage you to join twitter and start following me, and I’ll keep an eye out, and be sure to start following your tweets as well.

But on to the lesson from politics: No one wants to make the difficult decisions. It’s much easier to just pretend like everything’s okay and nothing’s wrong so that you don’t have to make a difficult decision.
The problem is, things are wrong, and unless you make a difficult decision today, you have a MUCH, MUCH more difficult decision years down the road when you’re literally forced into taking drastic, drastic measures.
The lesson is fight for the small incremental changes today, and hopefully you’ll get there…

I’m still learning this politics thing.

One Thing… (Part 2)

Posted by on 17 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: my life., thoughts on life.

Earlier I posed the question
What is one thing that takes a long time to build but can be destroyed in no time?

Good answers, everyone! They all apply, and they all take so long to build and can so easily and quickly be destroyed.
My answer for what one thing takes a long to build but can be destroyed in no time is: Trust.

Too many times have I had my trust in someone destroyed in just an instant, by something small, seemingly uneventful thing. Each time someone breaks my trust, the cap how much I’m able to trust them is lowered. One guy has even broken trust so much, I have absolutely zero trust in him, and think he may be lying 100% of the time. Talk about lack of trust–and this can never be rebuilt at this point!

Don’t break trust people, don’t break trust.

(Congratulations to Marvin for being the first to echo my One Thing!)

Deceitful Marketing

Posted by on 16 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: thoughts on church, thoughts on life.

This week, I got an Email coupon for 10% off anything storewide from a company I use often for printing pieces.
I needed to place an order anyway, so I thought, ‘Sweet!’
So I went through the steps to get my item, and the pre-coupon cost was $99.95. (Free shipping with any order over $75, too!)

So then I went to apply my 10% off to save my $9.99.
Sure enough, the price adjusted to $89.96, plus some $17 in shipping, bringing my total cost, with coupon, to around $107. Yes, the coupon actually cost me an extra $7.

This is deceitful marketing, and you shouldn’t do it. Bad company.
This is especially true in with church marketing. Don’t bait and switch. Bad church.

Needless to say, I didn’t use the anti-coupon, and didn’t make any additional purchases. I only purchased what I was going to purchase anyway.

One Thing… (Part 1)

Posted by on 15 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: thoughts on life.

Question: What is one thing that takes a long time to build but can be destroyed in no time?

I realize there are many answers to this question I pose, but what is your one answer?
You’ll read my answer in a few days, so check back.

Change

Posted by on 14 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: thoughts on life.

If you believe that people hate change and that it is your job to change them, they will hate it. If you believe that people thrive on change and that your job is to unleash it, you will tap into a limitless source of ingenuity, energy and drive that will allow you to take your big ideas into big results.

Michael T. Kanazawa

What do you think about this statement? Is this a proper description of how people see change?

Vision

Posted by on 13 Oct 2008 | Tagged as: my life., thoughts on life.

Last week, I came up with something really smart. At least, I think it was smart. I don’t know where I got it from, I can’t think of anyone who’s said it before, but I would assume it did not originate with me.

Talking about vision, what vision is and how to cast vision, I realized that talking about vision past-tense isn’t vision-casting, it’s a history lesson.
And history is boring (to most people).

But talking about the future, what are we going to accomplish, now there is something people can rally around and get excited about. We all know we don’t have the future 100% figured out, but if you don’t have a goal, I can guarantee you’ll never arrive where you aren’t heading.

Vision-casting isn’t about the past, it’s about the future.

My friends, you can’t cast vision often enough. Talk about the future of your marriage, your future house, the future _________. Future, future, future.

And no, you cannot talk about the future too much.

Personal Preferences

Posted by on 24 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: thoughts on church, thoughts on life.

I was listening to a session from Perry Noble, where he was talking about our personal preferences–the things we prefer and the things we do not prefer.
Personally, I don’t like opera and I don’t like country music. If you do, that’s okay with me, just as long as you don’t make me listen to it with you.
But here’s what Perry said:

The problem is when we allow our personal preference to get in the way of God’s preference when it comes to what He wants to do in our church.

May we always remember: It isn’t about me, it’s about God.

India Persecution Update

Posted by on 24 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: my life., New Hope stuff., thoughts on church, thoughts on god., thoughts on life.

This Email was received from our missionary in India.
The missionary is currently stateside, while his wife and children are still in India.

Have you spent time considering what it would be like to be a Christian which persecution like this? Please keep our Christian brothers and sisters in India in your prayers and thoughts.

MY WIFE WAS ABLE TO CALL ME THAT THE HINDUS DESTROY A POLICE STATION AT RAIKIA 20 KM FROM G.UDAYAGIRI AND 4000 HINDU MILITANTS ARE ATTACKING THE G.UDAYAGIRI REFUGEE CAMP.THEY HAVE CUT THE POWER AND TELEPHONE CELL PHONE AND HAVE SENT THE LETTERS TO THE CHRISTIAN LEADERS TO KILL WITHIN 5 DAYS OF TIME. NEED MUCH PRAYERS FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHRISTIANS AND THE CHURCHES. THEY HAVE BLOCKED THE [Removed for Confidentiality’s sake].THINGS ARE NOT AT ALL GOOD. IAM CONCERN OF OUR STAF,CHILDREN AND BELIEVERS WHO ARE AT [Confidential] RIHGT NOW.

How would you fare if you were thrust into such a life?
How would the church fare?
How would your faith fare?
How would Jesus fare?

Number One Key to a Green, Organic, Weed-Free Lawn.

Posted by on 19 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: my life., thoughts on life.

This week I realized the secret of having a green organic lawn.
By organic, I mean, no chemicals, no fertilizers, no weed killer.

I found myself doing this key this week, and am finding it works!
The key? Sit on the ground and pull out all the weeds.

Happy weed-free lawn!

Camping: What’s so Great?

Posted by on 15 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: my life., thoughts on life.

I’m getting rather excited to go camping this coming weekend. (Wanna join us?)


That got me thinking about what I enjoy most about camping. I think for me, camping is an escape from the technology-driven, high-stress hustle and bustle of everyday life. It’s a chance to actually use those Merrell Moab 2 hiking boots I own for once and see how they handle the real off road.
If only for a day or two, it’s an escape (I leave my cell phone, iPod and Macbook Pro at home) from what I deal with daily and get back to the basics.
I can’t just go to the fridge and get lunch. I have to kindle a fire, get coals going, etc. I have to work for my food. I have to boil my water to make coffee (french press), instead of just pushing a button on my coffee maker.

It’s like an alternate reality, and it’s thoroughly enjoyable for me!

What do you like best about camping?
(And if you’re interested in joining our camping excursion this coming weekend (Sept. 19-21), let me know in the comments and I’ll fill you in.)

How Green Can Indiana Get?

Posted by on 06 Aug 2008 | Tagged as: random., thoughts on life.

Article from the Sound Bend Tribune: How green can Indiana get?

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