My Favorite New Video!

Watch and be amazed as the talented Jordan Kranda (@jordankranda) blows your mind:

5 + 2 + 1 = 5,000

We've got a botched math system.
I think I'm beginning to understand God's better math system.
Here is my theory:  with God, addition turns to multiplication.

As I was reading through the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000 men with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (Luke 9), I felt as if God was saying, "As long as I'm in the equation you have to stop using your math and start remembering my math."

We all get so used to using our math system all the time when we go shopping or out to dinner or get paid, but our math gets turned upside down every time Jesus enters the equation.


5 loaves + 2 fish + 1 Jesus = 5,000 men eating to their hearts delight!


We can't ever forget that adding Jesus to the equation multiplies everything everytime.
 
Luke 8:17
"They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!"

Radicalis Session 2 - Perry Noble

"First, Rick Warren, then Andy 'freakin' Stanley...Why am I here?!" (I love Perry)


"I, at about 230lbs., was running from a 6lbs. goose! Why would I run from a goose? Then later it hit me, we have the same problem in our churches; we're running from geese when we have the Holy Spirit!"

Acts 26:15-17 - Radical Devotion


1.  Radical devotion begins with an accurate view of Jesus (v.15)

2.  Radical devotion calls us to action (v.16a)

"When the alarm goes off, you've got to do something about it."

3.  Radical devotion will impact me personally (v.16b)

4.  Radical devotion will lead to the supernatural (v.17)


"If you're going through hell right now, it could be that Hell is scared of what you're about to do."


"If it's God's will, then it's God's bill!"

Radicalis Session 1 - Rick Warren

"We always want better methods, but God wants better men."

"Radical living means rooted living."

"We need radical Christians who have a radical devotion to the radical commandment."

"No roots = no fruits"


"Who you are going to be in private determines who you are going to lead in public."


"There is no correlation between the size of your church and the strength of your church."


"If it's new it isn't true because truth has been around forever."


"Worship is the primary (root) purpose of the Church."

What Are Your Strengths (or Know Thyself)

"What are your strengths?"

That's a very important question. And if you want to spend your time wisely, you'd do good to get to know what you're good at. Can you answer that question for yourself? If you need help discovering what your strengths are and why you should be OBSESSED with them, I highly recommend this book.


I read the book and took the assessment a while ago and it was eye-opening to say the least. But it's been a while since I thought about it's findings. So, I just took a look at my Strengths Finder Signature Themes because, to be honest, I was beginning to forget them. 

If you're interested, here's the summary of what it says for me:

RelatorRelator describes your attitude toward your relationships. In simple terms, the Relator theme pulls you toward people you already know. You do not necessarily shy away from meeting new people—in fact, you may have other themes that cause you to enjoy the thrill of turning strangers into friends—but you do derive a great deal of pleasure and strength from being around your close friends. You are comfortable with intimacy. Once the initial connection has been made, you deliberately encourage a deepening of the relationship. You want to understand their feelings, their goals, their fears, and their dreams; and you want them to understand yours. You know that this kind of closeness implies a certain amount of risk—you might be taken advantage of—but you are willing to accept that risk. For you a relationship has value only if it is genuine. And the only way to know that is to entrust yourself to the other person. The more you share with each other, the more you risk together. The more you risk together, the more each of you proves your caring is genuine. These are your steps toward real friendship, and you take them willingly.
AchieverYour Achiever theme helps explain your drive. Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. And by “every day” you mean every single day—workdays, weekends, vacations. No matter how much you may feel you deserve a day of rest, if the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, you will feel dissatisfied. You have an internal fire burning inside you. It pushes you to do more, to achieve more. After each accomplishment is reached, the fire dwindles for a moment, but very soon it rekindles itself, forcing you toward the next accomplishment. Your relentless need for achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will always be with you. As an Achiever you must learn to live with this whisper of discontent. It does have its benefits. It brings you the energy you need to work long hours without burning out. It is the jolt you can always count on to get you started on new tasks, new challenges. It is the power supply that causes you to set the pace and define the levels of productivity for your work group. It is the theme that keeps you moving.
Focus“Where am I headed?” you ask yourself. You ask this question every day. Guided by this theme of Focus, you need a clear destination. Lacking one, your life and your work can quickly become frustrating. And so each year, each month, and even each week you set goals. These goals then serve as your compass, helping you determine priorities and make the necessary corrections to get back on course. Your Focus is powerful because it forces you to filter; you instinctively evaluate whether or not a particular action will help you move toward your goal. Those that don’t are ignored. In the end, then, your Focus forces you to be efficient. Naturally, the flip side of this is that it causes you to become impatient with delays, obstacles, and even tangents, no matter how intriguing they appear to be. This makes you an extremely valuable team member. When others start to wander down other avenues, you bring them back to the main road. Your Focus reminds everyone that if something is not helping you move toward your destination, then it is not important. And if it is not important, then it is not worth your time. You keep everyone on point.
LearnerYou love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered—this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences—yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the “getting there.”
ResponsibilityYour Responsibility theme forces you to take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it through to completion. Your good name depends on it. If for some reason you cannot deliver, you automatically start to look for ways to make it up to the other person. Apologies are not enough. Excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable. You will not quite be able to live with yourself until you have made restitution. This conscientiousness, this near obsession for doing things right, and your impeccable ethics, combine to create your reputation: utterly dependable. When assigning new responsibilities, people will look to you first because they know it will get done. When people come to you for help—and they soon will—you must be selective. Your willingness to volunteer may sometimes lead you to take on more than you should.

 If you know me, does that sound like me?
It's almost scary for me to read =)

C.S. Lewis's Impact

(My great friend Zac Smith gave me a significant portion of the most popular portion of the C.S. Lewis library as a wedding gift and I will always be grateful to him for that.)

It's one of my goals in life to someday own & read EVERYTHING ever published C.S. Lewis.
He was such a great thinker and writer that I think everyone should read at very least 3 of his books (suggestion:  Mere Christianity, The Weight of Glory, and The Screwtape Letters). If you're not convinced of his importance and the potential for your life to be changed, take some time to watch this lecture by John Piper. It is a long lecture (lectures usually = slow at times), but one that is well worth your time.


Thank you C.S. Lewis. You have helped me love the truth and real joy more.

Because of His Love.

Remember the story of Jesus raising the young girl from the dead?
Here's the ending:

Then Jesus took her by the hand and said in a loud voice, "My child, get up!" 
And at that moment her life returned, and she immediately stood up!
Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.

(Luke 8:54-55, NLT)

Jesus physically raised up a young daughter from her death bed! What a miracle!

He didn't have to do it. She was already dead. But He did it because He loved. 

I believe, just like Paul, that he is still doing the same thing and that he can raise anybody from the dead:

"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions; it is by grace you have been saved."

(Ephesians 2:4-5, NIV)