Archive for June 2011
Creating A To-Don’t List
Between all the technology you have in your house, there’s plenty of apps, programs, and mind-mapping tools that can help you organize your life. I use Action Method, Things, and/or ToodleDo for all of my mac gadgets. And there’s nothing wrong with the old fashion pen and pad. Post-it’s have done wonders for our world for decades. But I’ve never understand the power of creating a TO-DON’T list until recently.
I think it’s safe to say that all of us want to be productive professionally and productive personally. Maybe you’ve set some sales goals at work. Maybe you want to lose 10 lbs. by the end of the summer. Maybe you’re trying to gain 15 lbs. of muscle. Maybe you suggested a great idea for your organization in a meeting and nobody acted on it. Maybe you want to boost your GPA. Maybe you’ve told your friends you’d write 4 or 5 songs over the next couple of months. What about that book idea that’s been floating around the back of your head? I’m convinced that YOU have an amazing idea that you haven’t told anyone about yet. BIG MISTAKE. I promise you that if your idea is legit, you’ll need other people to help you make that happen.
If you’re going to be more productive professionally and personally, your to-do list needs to be sharp, but your to-don’t list needs to be nearly just as solid. Your to-don’t list is ridiculously personal. I could tell you to put Facebook on your to-don’t list because you could take the 20-30 min you spend on Facebook per day and put that time into researching more data for the book you’ve been meaning to write. But I could just as easily tell you that you need to spend more time on Facebook being intentional about your relationships because how can you write a book to an audience you never connect with?
In essence, ask yourself, “What’s two things I need to not do today to be more productive at work and more productive at home?“. Two keys you need to remember in creating a to-don’t list are simple: balance and intentionality. Try not be an extremist with this; otherwise, it’ll eventually fade. But don’t do things with a purpose. Don’t stay off Facebook for a night and paint your nails instead. As you put something you deem unproductive on your to-don’t list, put something majorly productive on your to-do list. And the results will come.
When Things Go South
Lord, give me a sign. Give me something that is undeniably… You. A hint would be spectacular as to if I’m in your will or completely missing the mark. God, if I’m honest, I’m beginning to feel like I’m on plan B for my life. Like what you had in store for plan A was out of this world, but I can’t help but feel like we’ve taken a detour.
I don’t know about you, but there’s been a time or two in my life where I’ve had to squint at what God was doing in my life. Things were fuzzy. I’d have trouble describing what was going on. And what you see above was what mostly rose to the surface of my mind. There’s a remarkable, and under rated, passage of scripture that isn’t often taught in church, but I believe it gives a framework for how God talks to us and how we should respond.
Acts 8.26-39
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” Ok, this is no way to start off a conversation, God. This dude is getting a message that says just go south, and not just go south, go south on a DESERT road. We have a God who’s telling a man to go to a place, in a manner, that no one wants to go… alone. 27 So he started out, [and Ryan Leak would add, without a fight or hesitation because I would have had something to say if it was me. Just saying] and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him… The Eunuch was reading about Jesus in Isaiah and it goes on to say that… 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing.
Friends, the message from God may not have name tags on it that you request. Most of the time, it’ll be something as simple as: go south. You never know what kind of opportunity you might find on a desert road. And perhaps, lost people are on the desert road waiting for you to show up. God could be giving them signs, and they’re waiting for YOU to show up to explain things.
You Better Recognize
It’s setting up the tables. Putting up the lights. Practicing your instrument for hours. Decorating the foyer. Scripting, shooting, and editing the video. Meeting for 5 hours to get the idea just right. And oh, when you get that perfect idea, it was as if a light bulb went off in your head, and you had the magical ability to do the same in other people’s minds when you told them about it. The response is pretty standard: “That’s a great idea.” And here’s what I observed, the average encouragement statement in our culture last about one sentence.
In the last 30 Days you’ve probably heard these words: Great job. Good stuff, man. Looks beautiful. Nice shirt. Cute dress. Thanks, bro. If you want to be an effective leader, you gotta start with recognizing what people do around you. It means the world to people. It sucks to work 20 hours on a video and have someone walk by and say, “Cool video, dude.” Is that bad? No! But if I take the cape off for a second, my response to that is sometimes, “Cool video, dude? That’s it? Do you know how much time I put into making that video? Do you realize how I was able to get that angle hanging out of my car and driving at the same time? ” I think we all have a desire to really be recognized. Ladies, maybe the added unorthodox belt with the dress plus unique earrings was genius, but you got a, “Nice outfit”. Real encouragement is in the details.
Here’s 3 things you can do to really encourage people:
1.) Ask Questions – “How long did it take you to do that?”, will take you further than, “Nice work.” Precede the latter with the first and that’s the difference between a person feeling normal and a person feeling special. Asking questions also helps you understand people’s craft. I have no idea how hard it is to run a sound board, but it looks easy. And I’m sure I’m wrong about that.
2.) Be Specific – “Worship was awesome today.” Chances are, your worship pastor/leader has heard that once or twice in their life. During worship, look for a specific moment where you felt like you were actually lead and describe that to them. One time I was a part of worship service and thought, “The Holy Spirit is so attracted to this room when this guy leads.” I shared it with him, and he said, “Wow. No one has ever said that to me before.” Specific recognition sticks with people.
3.) Make It Actionable – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a really great, specific thought about somebody, and I forgot to tell them. If it’s in a service, write it down fast to remind yourself to tell that person. The biggest mistake you can make in recognition, is assuming somebody else is doing it. I was just with one of my best friend’s in the world at a wedding, and it sounds stupid, but an encouraging thought about him came to me while I was on the plane leaving, and I pulled out my to-do list and wrote, “Encourage ______ about how he handled conflict on Friday”, because I didn’t want to forget!
Relationships are important. Leadership is important. If you want to do both well, you’ve got to look around and see who’s doing what. Today, you’ve got the power to make someone’s day average… or extraordinary. Go.
What Had Happened Was
We’ve all had that moment or two where we feel like we have absolutely heard from God. It may not have been the audible voice of God that you heard, but the best way you could describe your experience is a major spiritual awakening. Maybe you hit rock bottom. Maybe it was a break up. Maybe you lost your job. Maybe someone close to you died. Maybe YOU almost died. Whatever it was, you had a moment where, all of a sudden, you wanted to stop playing games. If we could graph your walk with God, this would be the high point where you lived with the most zeal and inspiration to change the world for Jesus.
My question for you today is: What happened?
In Matthew 13, I think we get a great depiction of what had happened was: A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.
You could be doing amazing things for the Lord right now, but you’ve had an experience where you’ve been told that you can do something even greater than what you’re doing now. You’ve allowed some rationalization or lie choke out what you’ve heard from God. I’ve got 3 questions I want you to walk away from your computer with today:
1.) What lie have you been listening to and agreeing with that has allowed you to live beneath the potential God has for you?
2.) If God could describe the state of your heart, how easy would he say it is for His word to find roots in it?
3.) What could God be trying to say to you for someone else to remove the lies they attach themselves to on a daily basis?
Answer these questions, and then do something about it. Remove excuses that keep you away from Jesus.
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