Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound:

Ready. Aim. Miss! by Simon Sinek
Excerpt: "The problem in the world is that life is about managing expectations. If we over promise and miss our target, others will say we failed. If we under promise and exceed our predictions, others will hail us as geniuses. The question is, do you want be a hailed as a genius or do you want to actually advance something in the world?"

The Pain of Growth by Tim Stevens
Excerpt: "Last week I was asked, “If our church is going to double in the next two years (from 500 to 1000), what will it take?” Here is what I shared…"

Ten Truths about Leadership by “Leadership Now”
Excerpt: "Based on thirty years of research—more than one million responses to their leadership assessment—Kouzes and Posner have gathered together in The Truth about Leadership, the ten truths that have stood the test of time and they hold true both globally and cross-generationally. They devote a chapter to each of these ten concepts:"

10 Characteristics of Growing Churches by Perry Noble
Excerpt: #1 – They have leaders that lead! (“For God so loved the world that He did not send a committee!” Not sure where I heard that…but its true!)"

A Few Thoughts That I’ve Been Thinking Lately…By Perry Noble
Excerpt: "#1 – “In the Bible God calls those who will not work lazy, but He calls those who will not rest disobedient.” (See Isaiah 30:15) from John Walker. EVERY leader needs to wrestle with that one!!!

YOUR WORTH by Pete Wilson
Excerpt: "But here’s the biggest shocker of all. The one that I just can’t comprehend. The Creator of the universe thinks I’m so valuable he can’t even put a number on it. Take a second to let this sink in…(Matthew 10:29-31, NLT)"

Re-Post of the Week

Triumph of the Invisible Over the Visible by Joshua Becker

The most valuable things in life can not be seen with the naked eye: love, friendship, hope, integrity, trust, compassion. These are the things that bring substance, fulfillment, and lasting joy to our lives.

And things like music, scents, silence, and memories add richness to our lives everyday.

But too often, we spend our time and energy chasing things that are visible – beautiful homes, fast cars, larger paychecks, or more fashionable clothing. We dream of a future that includes those things. We plot and plan to acquire them. We go to great lengths to care for them and we become jealous when others have more of them. Yet, those things have never fully satisfied our soul or brought us the fulfillment that they promised.

Instead,

• Their appeal always dims.
• Their value always decreases.
• Their appearance always fades.
• And their satisfaction diminishes every day.

It is time to shift our focus. It is time to allow the invisible to triumph over the visible in our eyes, minds, and hearts. To embrace the invisible over the visible,

1. Decide to pursue the invisible. Most changes in life are preceded by a simple decision. Decide today to assign more value to the invisible things of life.
2. Offer the invisible room in your heart and mind. Our actions are almost always determined by our heart’s desires and our mind’s thoughts. Give room in your heart for the invisible. Find time each day to intentionally think about such things – especially at the beginning of each day.
3. Bring the invisible into better focus. Unfortunately, the old cliche is often true, “Out of sight, out of mind.” So turn it around and use it to your advantage. What comes into your mind when you think about joy, hope, relationships, or significance? Post that photo or quote somewhere that you can see it to remind you of its value. This will help keep the invisible visible in your mind.
4. Be wise to culture’s influence. Most of the Western world is built on humanity’s desire to acquire more and more things. It makes economies grow, governments flourish, and brings appeasement to the masses. Therefore, it is encouraged at every turn. Become wise to their desires and learn to recognize their false promises.
5. Pursue it at all costs. If the most valuable things in life are invisible, pursue them above everything else. Even if no one else is.

The best things in life really are free… and invisible.

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound:

Questions I'm Wrestling Through by Geoff Cocanower

Keller Park Basketball Camp by Dan Weiss

Honor 101 by Steven Furtick

Heavy Hearted by Kory Lantz

Grace Redefined by Steven Furtick

Are You A 100 Percent Leader by Leadershipnow

Dream for Your Family by Ben Arment

When Does Your Day Start by Pete Wilson

Profound Re-Post of the Week

The Life Changing Nature of Gratitude by Joshua Becker

“Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.” - John Henry Jowet

Gratitude matters.

A grateful heart is a content heart. A content heart is a simple heart. And a simple heart leads to a simplified life.

Gratitude opens the door to both simplicity and minimalism. Consider the fact that a person who is grateful for the things in their life will care for them more, enjoy them more and waste less energy seeking more. They will experience joy in life by finding fulfillment in the gifts they already possess rather than looking outside themselves for fulfillment. And that is the very essence of minimalism.

Yet, we live in a culture that preaches discontent. A consumer culture will always attack gratitude. If they can sow seeds of discontent in our lives, they can sell us on their new product line or latest version with new improvements. In contrast, those who can find gratitude in their current existence will be less influenced by those empty promises.

But how can we find gratitude in a world that seeks to destroy it?

1. Choose gratitude today. Gratitude will never be a result of your next purchase, success, or accomplishment. It is available in your heart right now. And you will never find gratitude in life until you intentionally decide to choose it.


2. Count your blessings: a new day, a warm bed, a loving spouse, a child in your life, a unique personality, or a special talent… You have wonderful things in your life already. Gratitude quickly sets in when we begin to spend a quiet moment each day remembering them. This practice alone has the potential to change your heart and life immeasurably.


3. Stop focusing on what you don’t have. Too many people never realize gratitude because they spend so much mental energy focused on what they don’t have. Throw away catalogs and advertisements that inevitably promise you more fulfillment and joy in life. Those things are not sold in stores – never have been, never will be.


4. Embrace humility. Humility is an essential ingredient in gratitude. A humble heart finds satisfaction in the gifts it already possesses and demands less from others and life. Remember that no matter what your accomplishments, your life contains no more inherent value than the person sitting next to you… no matter where you may be sitting.


5. Open your eyes to those with less. Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. 1.1 billion people have inadequate access to clean water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation. Let those facts sink in for just a moment… and slowly allow gratitude and a desire to become part of the solution to take their place.


6. Find gratitude in difficulty. It is easy to be grateful when things are going well. It can be more difficult during the trials of life: death, disease, rejection, or failure. The truth is that no one is exempt from the trials of life, but good can always be found in even the worst of times. And embracing gratitude during those trials may be the one thing that gets you through them.

In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy. And that gratefulness quickly leads to a satisfied, simplified life.

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound...

GUEST POST: Humanitarian Jesus by Christian Buckley.

Excerpt: "The call to cause is real and it is not going anywhere, but the call to Christ is eternal and it has never been more important. And one more thing, the greatest part of the call to cause is that the brokenness those causes represent are part of Christ’s call to Himself."

Blinded By Your Own Product by Simon Sinek.

Excerpt: "Companies with a clear sense of Why set the tone and direction in their respective industries. They lead and others look to follow them. Suffering severe product blindness, however, these days Starbucks is looking for others to follow."

The Life Changing Nature of Gratitude by Joshua Becker

Excerpt: "In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy. And that gratefulness quickly leads to a satisfied, simplified life."

KIN's lasting effects by Dan Weiss

Excerpt: "But now I want to share with you how Kids In Need has marked me deeply enough to make me LIVE differently."

How to Hang-on…by DC Curry

Excerpt: "Here are some ways to “hang-on” in seasons where you feel like it’s all you can do just to ‘hang-on’:"

The House You Have To Live In by Steven Furtick

Excerpt: "I once asked a group of fifteen pastors if they would attend the churches they were leading if they were not on staff…Only two raised their hands."

My Church Is Not The Best by Tony Morgan

Excerpt: "My church is great. It really is. The people are wonderful. The music is passionate. The growth is exciting. The vision is contagious. It’s a hot place to be each weekend. But it’s not better than your church. It can’t be. I won’t let it be. Your church is great, too. And it’s when we are together – and only when we are together - that we are all truly at our best."

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound...

Principles of Rest by April Diaz. Good reminder that we all need to slow down more often!

DIFFERENT is good by Dan Weiss. Dan recaps his experience as a volunteer at NMC's Senior High Camp.

Leadership Demands You Put Up With The Bull by Pete Wilson. Pete shares a great leadership principle by using one of the most recently popular youtube videos out there.

Rock Stars by Derry Prenkert. Derry shares about who the real stars of NMC summers Camps.

Success VS Blessing by Pete Wilson. This short post really made me stop and think.

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound...

Processing by Dan Weiss - Great insight and wisdom from Dan.

Battle of the Church Signs - Very funny stuff!

On This 4th Of July by Derry Prenkert

It's Coming Back by Steven Furtick

Big butter jesus melted: was it the wrath of god? by Mark Oestricher. I've seen this statue and I agree with Marko's take on the situation.

Dangerous Prayer by Rob Wenger

Four Types of Feedback by Mac Lake. Good read for those who are leading others.

Don’t Look At What Is Wrong But Rather Who He Is! by Perry Noble. Perry says "I have found during my most stressful times it is best if I just stop and focus on who God is…I’ve made a list that helps me when I tend to freak out..."

7 Counterfeits of Repentance by Mark Driscoll. Great material!

Establishing a Culture of Distributed Leadership. Great read for leaders on empowering and delegating.

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by LeadershipNow.

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound...

How Best To Explain This To Our Children? by Mark Beeson - So, how do you tell your children about our President's Proclamation of "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month?"

Do you have the right to be heard? by Seth Godin - Seth shares some great ways to make sure people here what you have to say. A good read for leaders.

Life just happens... by Kyle Lantz - Kyle shares memories about his Grandma Theda.

Sunday Night Reflections by Perry Noble - Noble shares a bunch of great thoughts from his Father's Day sermon that challenges us Father's to the core.

Should We Worry, Pray or Plan? by Mark Beeson - Mark looks at the differences between someone who worries, someone who prays and someone who plans. Good stuff.

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound...

Honey, I Shrunk the World by Adam Cramer - Interesting statistics about the world population

Generation Porn - Where Will It End? . . . . by Walt Mueller - An informative post that includes facts on Internet pornography that were recently released by OnlineMBA.

Gifts, misunderstood by Seth Godin. The difference between a gift and a present.

A Proper Perspective by Chris Knight - A great devotional thought that serves as a "good reminder for those days, weeks, months, years or lifetimes that just don't seem to ever swing in our favor."

Crazy Days On The Beach by Pete Wilson - Another great thought about maintaining a proper perspective on life yet with a totally different twist.

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound...

1. "What I loved about the HSM team" by Matt McGill. Matt is a former staff member in the High School Ministry at Saddleback Church. HSM is one of the most recognized Youth Ministries in America. It was cool to hear his perspective and experience as one now coming in as an “outsider” into one of the largest ministries in the country.

2. "Don't Just Take their Money - Educate Them" by Phil Cooke. This article speaks to the need for “raising awareness” in the midst of challenging people to give sacrificially. I liked this article partly because it validated our approach to “Kids In Need” this past school year in NMC Student Ministries.

3. "Bet your Senior Pastor doesn’t do this" by DC Curry. Every Middle School Pastor in the world, should idolize Granger Community Church’s senior pastor, Mark Beeson, for this reason.

4. "11 things I want Jada to know" by DC Curry. DC recently became a father for the first time. He shares 11 things he wants his daughter to know as she grows up.

5. "Staying out of trouble vs. Walking in your calling" by Steven Furtick. This is a great read about what both the CHURCH and PARENTS are doing wrong in the attempt to reach this generation for Christ.

6. "Money & Peace" by Pete Wilson. Pete shares a powerful truth, "There is no correlation between money and peace."

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound...

1. The Slide Is Waiting by Mark Beeson. An important truth told through a great picture.

2. Why Sexuality & Nudity is Down in Movies by Phil Cooke. Very interesting rationale!

3. The Middle 70% by Kara Powell via DC Curry. Good reminder for youth workers.

4. What's Wrong with Many Faith Based Movies by Phil Cooke. He references an article by Megan Basham in World Magazine.

5. 10 Hard Questions by Perry Noble. Warning! Don't read this unless you want to be challenged in the area of time stewardship.

6. The Gift of Rejection by Ben Arment. This was a timely article for me to read as Rachael and I embark on raising money for "The Congo Project".

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound...

1. Theology of Wealth - Great post by Tom Carpenter, as he quotes an excerpt from Richard Foster's book, "Freedom of Simplicity".

2. For the Teachers - NMC Senior Higher Katherine Berkey came up with a very cool idea of how to serve her teachers. She recruited some others to help and here is the result. Way to go, Katherine!

3. EmotionalWhiplash - Pastor Pete Wilson shares a story of joy and heartbreak that he experienced all in the same day, as both a friend and a pastor.

4. Behind the Pulpit: Mark Driscoll’s Reading List - As one of the most well-known pastors in America, I was interested to know what books Mark is currently reading. But what made this a great post for me was that he shared what his kids are reading as well which provides great resource ideas for those of us with kids.

5. Six Leadership Mistakes I’ve Made - Great leadership insights from Perry Noble, one of the leading pastors in America.

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound...

1. Great post and video link from http://www.austinhostetter.com/ that asks the question, "Do We Have the Hunger?" (to end hunger around the world).

2. Perry Noble shares specific ways we can be praying for our churches.

3. Kem Meyer shares her thoughts here on an article that challenges today's social justice movement by calling it "slactivism" which basically means "doing good without having to do much at all." I share much of the same tensions on this issue as Kem.

4. This video from Caleb Bislow has Rachael and I wrestling with how the Lord might want us to get involved.

5. Derry Prenkert series called "It Just Got Personal" is very powerful.

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound...

1. 10 Things Jesus Did Not Say! by Perry Noble


2. “Give ‘em Hell This Sunday!” Uh…Nope! also by Perry Noble


3. How can I live a normal life... by a very un-normal guy, Caleb Bislow


4. This World is Not Our Home by Pete Hise


5. Do It Lord by NMC Student Ministries Administrative Extraordinaire, Kristy Mikel


6. AWESOME! video via Joshua Seller


7. I Love Girls by Tim Stevens (snippets from James Dobson's new book, "Bringing Up Girls" )

Profound Posts

Here are a few of the blog posts that I came across in the past week or so that I found particularly profound...

1. Janelle Prenkert, wife of NMC Senior High Pastor, Derry Prenkert, reflects on her experience with the NMC Student Ministries' IMPACT team in Kenya over Spring Break in her post, "What if you were that desperate?"
2. Staci Keeter, director of the AGC Abandoned Baby Center (an NMC ministry partner) in Nakura, Kenya, shares here about a conversation she had with her 4 year-old twin boys as they asked questions about the abandoned babies that now live Baby Center.
3. Pete Wilson, pastor of Cross Point Church in Nashville and one of my new favorite bloggers to read, shared a short but profound post called, "Some Days".
4. Mark Beeson, Senior Pastor of Granger Community Church, shares a lesson he learned from his recent trip to Egypt called, "Memorials and Monuments".
5. Katherine Berkey, an NMC sophomore, shared a great post called, A letter to the Leaders, honoring all those volunteers who invest in the lives of students.