What’s New?

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I love new things. They’re fresh. They’re exciting. They’re…well…NEW.

I firmly believe we have to regularly experience new things. It both lets us know we’re moving forward and KEEPS us moving forward. If it’s always the “same old, same old”…then we’ve probably hit a rut and are in danger of becoming ineffective.

Think about all the “new” we see in Scripture:

  • In Isaiah, God declares he will do a NEW thing
  • Jesus implemented a NEW covenant
  • Our relationship with Him makes us a NEW creation
  • At the end of all things, the old will fade and everything will be made NEW

Cherish the old…but ALWAYS move to the NEW!



Written by on January 2, 2012 and categorized under Impact, Individuality

Don’t Eat the Marshmallow

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A running joke for the past several years in our staff has been, “I’d eat the marshmallow.” It started when one of us read about a study that was conducted years ago by putting children in a room with a single marshmallow on a plate. They were then told that they could either eat the marshmallow …or…if they could sit and wait for x number of minutes, they would be rewarded with a 2nd marshmallow. The study was to show a correlation between patience and success.

It makes me think of how Esau, after a long day of hunting, was hungry and asked his brother, Jacob, for some soup. Jacob made him an offer. Esau could have some soup IF he would give up his birthright as the firstborn. Esau agreed. All I can say is…I hope that was some good soup.

Our enemy is crafty. He is willing to give us moments of pleasure. But, in exchange, we give up our purpose. In any kind of economy…a moment of pleasure is never worth a lifetime of purpose. I guarantee the enemy will never give you more than God has in store.

Don’t eat the marshmallow.



Written by on December 7, 2011 and categorized under Impact, Individuality

Critical Eye or Critical Spirit?

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One of the unfortunate side-effects of being human is the constant need to deal with one’s humanity…aka, the tendency to err. I recently made a statement that was less than wise…and, quite frankly, unkind. My background in theatre and event programming has taught me to look at things with a critical eye. Unfortunately, it is all too easy for that critical eye to give way to a critical spirit.

What’s the difference?

  • a critical eye operates in love…a critical spirit operates in pride
  • a critical eye offers solutions…a critical spirit only points out the problems
  • a critical eye sees the people…a critical spirit only sees the product
  • a critical eye builds up…a critical spirit tears down
  • a critical eye desires to make the ideas of others better…a critical spirit believes his ideas are always best
It is important to have a critical eye to continue to raise the bar of excellence and to empower others to reach past even their own potential. It is to your detriment, and the detriment of those around you, to operate in a critical spirit. Be careful to know the difference.

For me, this is a lesson learned the hard way.


Written by on December 6, 2011 and categorized under Impact, Innovation

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