The Secret Weapon

One can find many life lessons in the natural world.  A video I recently watched highlights one of these lessons.

I recently subscribed to the DiveFilm HD video podcast which has a collection of short ocean-related videos.  While all the ones I have seen so far have been good, "The Secret Weapon" video definitely falls into the category of educational litter.  See for yourself.  (If you want the HD version, go here.)



How can we use the lesson taught in this video?

Who Cares?

Image: kairsjoy/photobucket

Few people will ever care as much about our projects as we do, but that's a good thing.

One important fact remains regarding whatever activities we do, whatever projects we work on, whatever dreams we have.  Few people will be as excited, as involved, as we are.  Why should they?  They did not come up with the idea, they didn't make the plans, they didn't put the blood, sweat, and tears into it like we did.  However, that should not discourage us from striving toward our goals. 

In fact, that should make us want to push even more. The lack of caring most likely means that we are on to something. That lack of caring may be God's way of telling us what direction we should go.  Our product, service, or work of art could fill a need and/or inspire people in ways that haven't been done before.

Don't let the masses tell you what you should or should not do.  Go forward into uncharted territory, into the great unknown.  As the words to a song go,

To hear with my heart,
To see with my soul,
To be guided by a hand I cannot hold,
To trust in a way that I cannot see,
That's what faith must be.

Have you ever stepped out in faith and been greatly rewarded?  Tell us your story.

Featured Post: What I Learned About Leadership from a Fight with My WIfe

This featured post comes from Intentional Leadership, a blog written by Michael Hyatt, Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers.  His goal is to "help people live and lead on purpose".

What I Learned About Leadership from a Fight with My Wife

Gail and I have been married for thirty-three years. She is my lover, my best friend, and my coach. But a few days ago we had a fight. It was a doozy.

Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/mediaphotos

It’s not important what it was about. It was one of those issues we have stumbled over previously. But I will admit that it was my fault. I ambushed her and let it escalate beyond what the circumstances warranted.

Thankfully, it ended well. Primarily, because Gail was patient, refusing to react to my rant. This was enough to end what Emerson Eggerichs calls, “the crazy cycle.” (If you haven’t read his book, Love and Respect, you must do so. It’s the most practical book on marriage I’ve read.)

Weary—and feeling a little foolish—we asked one another’s forgiveness and restored the relationship.

As I was reflecting on that experience today, I thought to myself, How can we avoid slipping into this same conflict in the future. I wrote down five lessons I want to remember for the future.

1. Clarify our expectations up front. Most conflicts are born out of a misalignment of expectations. In this particular argument, I had a set of unexpressed expectations that Gail failed to meet. If we had discussed them before the day began, we would have likely avoided the problem altogether. But, she didn’t know, because I hadn’t bothered to articulate them.
2. Assume the best about each other. This is especially difficult in the heat of the moment. It is easy to impute motives. But, realistically, your spouse does not get up in the morning intending to make your life miserable. You have to give your spouse the benefit of the doubt, and assume that he or she is well-intentioned.
3. Affirm the priority of the relationship. The most important asset you have as a couple is the health of your relationship. You don’t want to win the battle but lose the war. Near the end of our argument, I finally came to my senses. I said, “Honestly, I don’t know who is right or who is wrong. What I know for sure is that I love you and that trumps everything.” She quickly agreed.
4. De-personalize the problem. When you square off against one another and make it personal, it gets ugly. If you are not careful, you end up cornering your spouse and leaving them no other option than to react or retaliate. Instead, you have to move to their side of the table, and work on the problem together.
5. Listen more than you talk. When you get angry, it is easy to rant—to give expression to your emotion. This is almost never a good idea. Instead, if you want to be understood, you must seek to understand. (Thank you, Dr. Covey.) This means trying to see the other person’s point-of-view. Ask a question, and then ask a follow-up question.

What does this have to do with leadership? Everything. If you can’t lead yourself, you can’t lead others. And if you can’t learn to manage conflict with those closest to you, how can you manage it with those who have less of a stake in the outcome?

Question: What have you learned from conflict in your own marriage? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Anatomy of Intensity

Mother Lioness via newtechtips.org

Feeling run down?  Does life seem to pass you by?  Maybe you need to be more INTENSE!  Today we'll look at the subject of intensity.  Can we generate it by force of will, or learn it in a classroom?  What does the word even mean?  This post looks at these questions and more as we dissect this often misunderstood concept.

Being from another part of the country than where I currently reside, I occasionally check the news from my home state.  Recently, I came across a video regarding a local football team.  In the video, two reporters commented on various players.  At one point they stated that player x should be more like player y, meaning one lacked the intensity of the other.  They then hoped that y could "pass along" his intensity to x.  This sparked a thought within me.  Can intensity be learned or must one simply be born with it?  This question got me started on a deeper look into this subject.

First we must ask the question "What does the word intensity mean?"

Dictionary Definitions

The Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary (a resource for those learning English) gives the following definition for the word intensity

1 [noncount] : the quality or state of being intense : extreme strength or force
▪ the intensity of the sun's rays ▪ the intensity of the argument

2 : the degree or amount of strength or force that something has [count]
▪ hurricanes of different intensities [noncount] ▪ The noise grew in intensity. [=the noise became louder] ▪ The sun shone with great intensity.

 I chose the Learner's Dictionary definition because of its simplified language as well as its illustrations.  What about other illustrations from nature?

Natural Intensity

An example of natural intensity from my own experience comes to mind.  Some years ago I visited a zoo which had a lioness with young cubs.  Part of the enclosure had transparent walls, and zoo employees had to put additional barriers on the people side because anyone coming too close to the wall would provoke an attack.  I stood well away from the enclosure, but when the lioness' eyes met mine I received the message loud and clear.  If there were no wall between us, my name would no longer be Brent Buttler, my name would be Dead Meat.  The intensity of her look foretold of the violent effort that she would put forth to defend her offspring, but can intensity be displayed in a nonviolent way?

Yes it can.

Nonviolent Intensity

Violent intensity comes to mind first because, let's face it, we live in a violent world, and many examples of violence exist.  However, when we look at the definition of intensity we see that it has to do with the strength of an object or activity rather than its violence.  This strength can also be applied to nonviolent actions and emotions.  An example of nonviolent intensity for me comes from a scene in the film Matthew from The Visual Bible series.  In this scene (starting at 1:38 in the video) Bruce Marchiano, portraying Jesus, looked at Matthew with such intensity that when He told him to "Follow Me" Matthew did so without hesitation.  Now one can argue that Jesus didn't have to learn to be intense, but what about the rest of us?  Can those who exhibit passivity become intense?

Yes,  but not in the way you may think.

Learning Intensity

From my observation and experience I have found that you cannot learn intensity in a classroom or from a book.  You can learn how an intense person acts, but true intensity has to be more than simply going through the motions.  A passive person becomes intense only through a relationship with an intense person.  So if you find yourself feeling run down and you see life passing you by, take the time to develop a relationship with the most intense Person you will ever know, Jesus Christ.

Think I'm on the right track, or do you think I'm way off the mark?  Let me know.  I look forward to your input in this matter.

Book Review: Faith That Works

Wanna make it into heaven, but don't know how to get there?  Morris Venden's book Faith That Works will tell you how, but don't simply take my word for it, read it for yourself.

According to an old saying one cannot judge the contents of a book by its cover.  While that may be true in many cases, by looking at the cover you can still get a good idea about what's inside.  When you read the back cover of this book, you will discover its theme.  Righteousness is not something you can achieve on your own.  It can only be achieved through Jesus.

When you look inside the book you will find that theme throughout.  This daily reader (one page for each day of the year) begins with pertinent title "What God is Like" and leads you on a journey into a deeper understanding of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Christian life until you arrive at the last title "Jesus, Your Best Friend".   My wife and I started reading this book most of the way through the year last year, but the effect remained the same.  Despite our growing up in Christian environments, we found ourselves being challenged and encouraged to take a deeper look at our views on a variety of subjects.

For example, one does not overcome temptation with clenched fists and gritted teeth, you simply get to the point where temptation has no power over you at all (you can find a more detailed explanation here).

Whether you're a lifelong Christian, or you aren't even sure what Christianity is all about, you will benefit from reading this book.  Can one find similar thoughts in other books?  Absolutely, but Venden's style of writing makes complicated topics easy to understand.  Many times while reading this book I found myself thinking, "Hmm, I never thought about it that way before."  Venden's passion for the subject matter practically oozes from the pages, and will draw you into wanting to know more about this being called God, and this man named Jesus.

Being over ten years old, this book should be easy to get for relatively little money (I got mine for free, not sure why the previous owner gave it up).  So, what are you waiting for?  Get yours today.

Book Review: The Jesus I Never Knew

Photo courtesy goodreads.com

Phillip Yancey challenges the reader to take a second, third, and fourth look at Christianity's most talked about, yet most frequently misunderstood, subjects; the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

Yancey starts off this book with his first encounter with the concept of Jesus.  A scene not too unfamiliar to those who grew up in a Christian environment.  Since I fall into that category, I can identify with it as well.  I used the word "fall" almost unconsciously, but it fits so well.  As children, we don't have much control over where we go, what we do, or what type of home we grow up in.  With our undeveloped skepticism, we believe whatever comes from the mouths of those in authority regardless of its truthfulness.  Sadly, as we grow older, we discover that those in authority have not been completely honest with us.  This was the case with Philip Yancey.

Yancey grew up believing Jesus to be one who had "no sharp edges at all--a Mister Rogers before the age of children's television."  Those of you who did not grow up in the United States, or simply did not watch "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" most likely will not be able to fully grasp the power of that illustration.  As one who watched the program extensively growing up, I know exactly what picture Yancey tried to portray.  Mister Rogers was the ultimate nice guy, and his show followed his personality.  In researching for this post I came across the program's opening theme, something I hadn't seen for a very long time, and I couldn't help but feel a warm sense of peace as I watched it.  Young Philip felt that same peace thinking about Jesus, the problem being that was where his concept of Jesus ended.  As Yancey grew up his concept broadened, sometimes exponentially, and this book details what he discovered about this Man Who was God.  What did Yancey discover?

Yancey found out that Jesus is more than we think He is, and when you think you have Him figured out, something else comes along that completely contradicts what you first thought.  Jesus lived a life of apparent contradictions: the Sinless One Who was a Friend of Sinners, powerful men and evil angels would cower in His presence or simply run away, yet little children and outcast women were drawn to Him, and never wanted to leave His side.  A friend of mine described Jesus as a "human magnet", a fitting description indeed for those were seemingly His opposite were drawn to Him, yet those who were seemingly His equal were repulsed.

While other books exist about Jesus' life that I would place in higher esteem (namely one in particular), The Jesus I Never Knew helped to remind me that simply because we have learned something as a child doesn't necessarily make it true, and that we should keep our minds and hearts open to God's leading.  For although we most likely will have to give up long cherished ideas, the new ones that we accept will be much, much better.

Featured Post: Corporate Identity and God's Blessing

This featured post comes from Ted N. C. Wilson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist world church via the Adventist News Network.

Commentary: Corporate identity and God's blessing

Church membership and leadership must unite to receive latter rain

Luke tells us twice that the disciples were of one accord as they prepared for the outpouring of the early rain (Acts 1:14; 2:1). The fact that he would mention it twice suggests that unity within the church is a very important step in preparation for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. There is an aspect to unity presented throughout Scripture that is seldom recognized or addressed in our church -- the role of corporate identity.

First of all, look at an example of corporate identification and then at two aspects of this phenomenon, which are crucial in the preparation for the latter rain:

First, the example: God made it absolutely clear that the Israelites were not to take any spoils for themselves in Jericho's fall and that the silver, gold, and the bronze and iron vessels were consecrated to the Lord (Joshua 6:18, 19). But Achan stole 200 shekels of silver, a wedge of gold and a Babylonian garment (Joshua 7:21). God's anger burned against Israel, and in the next military engagement, Israel lost 36 men and suffered a shameful defeat. When Joshua cried out, "Why, Lord?" the answer was short and to the point: "Israel has sinned" (Joshua 7:11). The whole nation suffered and men lost their lives because one Israelite disobeyed -- corporate identity.

Now, two illustrations that impact directly upon our plea for the latter rain:

First, when the 12 spies returned to give their report about the promised land, Caleb and Joshua were positive and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it" (Number 13:30). However, the 10 spies said they could not take the land because there were giants in it and they felt like grasshoppers. The nation believed the 10 and turned against their leaders who were positive that God would fulfill His promise and give the land to them. God's response? Back into the wilderness for 40 years. Moses, Aaron, Caleb, Joshua, and those who supported them had to return to the wilderness because of those who refused to believe God's Word -- corporate identity.

The second illustration takes us to the time of Jesus. Now the roles are reversed. The common people of Israel were flocking to see and hear Jesus. They were bringing their sick to be healed. There was a growing belief among them that Jesus was the promised Messiah but not so among the leaders. They were jealous of Him and plotted His death. During His trial, Pilate asked, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests responded, "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:15).

Concerning the priests' attitude, Ellen White says, "Thus by choosing a heathen ruler, the Jewish nation had withdrawn from the theocracy. They had rejected God as their king. Henceforth, they had no deliverer. They had no king but Caesar. To this the priests and teachers had led the people. For this, with the fearful results that followed, they were responsible. A nation's sin and a nation's ruin were due to the religious leaders" (DA, pp. 737-738) -- corporate identity.

In the first illustration the leaders suffered because of the rebellion of the people. In the second illustration the people suffered because of the rebellion of the leaders. God deals with us individually when it comes to our own salvation. But God deals with His people as a corporate group when it comes to carrying out His instructions for the advancement of His work.

What is the lesson to be learned?

God deals with His church today as a corporate body. If we are to receive the latter rain power of the Holy Spirit today, the body and the leadership must be on the same page. God has been ready for years to give His people the latter rain. He has been waiting for us to get ourselves together. If we would only press together in seeking the promised power, pray for each other and stand united, shoulder to shoulder, the power would be given, the work would be finished quickly and we would enter the kingdom soon. It will happen and the glory will be given to God alone.

Problem Solved

Image: nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Despite the enjoyment problem solving brings, we need to remember that we never solve problems completely on our own.

I recently solved a software-related problem with my laptop.  Naturally, I felt good about getting the problem out of the way, especially considering I put a decent amount of time and effort into finding and implementing a solution.  With this success came the temptation to think that I had solved the problem on my own without any outside assistance.

My line of thinking soon changed when I realized that although I did not actively ask for help, my solution came from knowledge I had received from someone else.  Someone who posted a solution on a website.  Someone who had more knowledge about the situation than I did.

Even if I had not consulted a source other than myself, Someone did help me solve that problem.  As it is written,

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:16-17

 So next time you're tempted to think too highly of yourself for solving a problem, remember that you didn't solve it on your own, Someone was there helping whether you realized it or not.

Lost in Our Own Home

"The Lost Drachma" by James Tissot
Courtesy Brooklyn Museum

When God looks for us sometimes He doesn't have to go very far to find us.

In my last post, I wrote about a story involving God looking for someone who has wandered far away.  Today's story involves a similar scenario, but with a twist.  The searcher doesn't have to go far to find that which was lost, but that doesn't make the search any easier.

This story involves a woman should have ten pieces of silver, but only has nine.  She knows that the silver pieces have never left the house, so the missing one must be around somewhere.  No doubt we can identify with her situation in one way or another.  At one point or another we have lost something in our own homes; something valuable, i. e. our keys.  We know that they are in our home somewhere because the car is here and we are inside, but for the life of us we cannot find them.  The situation often becomes more intense by the fact that we need to go to an appointment, work, or some other time-sensitive engagement.  We leave "no stone unturned" as the saying goes, in our search for our missing item.

In the story involving the woman she has no appointment to go to, but she still desperately needs to find that silver piece.  She lives in a time and place where women received a dowry, and she wishes to pass these silver pieces on to her daughter, all of them.  An incomplete set simply will not do.  The loss of even one of these pieces would be a serious problem.  The poverty in which she lives only serves to compound her anxiety.  So she cleans the entire house looking for this piece of silver, and great rejoicing comes as a result of her finally finding it.

One of the main differences that exist between this story and the one with the lost sheep is that the sheep knows it's in trouble.  It knows it has done/is doing things that aren't right.  It knows that it needs help; needs to be found.  On the other hand, people represented by the piece of silver think that they are doing alright.  They often profess to be believers in God, and may be quite active in their respective churches, communities, etc.  They may also be out there "in the world" and have become desensitized to their true need of God.  They think these ways while all the time living under the same roof as faithful believers.

People in this category often receive harsh treatment, the religious ones being called "hypocrites" and being used as an excuse by those in open rebellion as the reason they rebelled.  The non-religious ones often receive the label "lost cause" and people do not even try to reach out to them.  We need to be crystal clear that these people have as much value and need to be sought after as much, or even more than, those who have openly gone away from God.  One author put it this way.

"The coin, though lying among dust and rubbish, is a piece of silver still. Its owner seeks it because it is of value. So every soul, however degraded by sin, is in God's sight accounted precious. As the coin bears the image and superscription of the reigning power, so man at his creation bore the image and superscription of God; and though now marred and dim through the influence of sin, the traces of this inscription remain upon every soul. God desires to recover that soul and to retrace upon it His own image in righteousness and holiness"  Christ's Object Lessons pg. 194

This simple truth remains, God loves everyone, even those who have no feeling, no real sense, that they walk the wrong path, and in order for these "coins" to be found we need to have that same love for them in our hearts.

Looking for You

"Seeking the Lost Sheep in the Mountains"
courtesy La Vista Church of Christ

God is looking for you, even if we don't think we are worth the effort.

There is one fact that I want you to be perfectly clear about, and that is that God loves you.  We have heard people say a lot about God loving the world (if we hear even that much), and often lose sight of the fact that He loves us as  individuals.  It doesn't matter what we have done, or even what we are doing right now, He still loves us; loves me; loves you.

Many stories exist that, in one way or another, try to illustrate that love.  The one I read most recently involves a man who owned some sheep, a hundred of them to be exact.  Now at the end of the day when he brought all the sheep in from grazing, it seems as though one was missing.  He counts again, and sure enough, only ninety-nine sheep.  He could have thought that it was too much trouble to go out into the darkness to find this one sheep.  He could have thought that the lost sheep will get what it deserves for wandering away.  He could have thought up so many excuses not to go out, but instead he chose to look for that one lost sheep.

A storm started to brew, but that did not deter him.  It only served to increase the earnestness of his search.  Despite the darkness of the night and the danger of the path, he searches until at long last he hears the faint sound of his lost sheep.  He can tell that if he doesn't get to it soon it will be too late, and with great joy he at last finds it.  He doesn't scold or punish the sheep, but rather takes it in his arms and brings it to the place of safety.  It didn't matter what the sheep had done, he was simply glad to bring it home.

One writer put it this way

"Desponding soul, take courage, even though you have done wickedly. Do not think that perhaps God will pardon your transgressions and permit you to come into His presence. God has made the first advance. While you were in rebellion against Him, He went forth to seek you. With the tender heart of the shepherd He left the ninety and nine and went out into the wilderness to find that which was lost."  Christ's Object Lessons pgs. 188-189

One of the greatest lies going around is the one that states that we have gone too far, committed too many sins to be loved by a holy God, but that could not be further from the truth.  However far we have gone, He will go even farther to bring us to Him.  Don't worry about trying to fix yourself ahead of time, simply allow yourself to be found, and He will find you because He is looking for you.