- Jesus is real and people are better for choosing that faith. Believe.
- The fruitfulness of ministry can be measured by whether people come to follow Jesus as a result of its work.
- Life is hard and it’s good. Complain less, solve more.
- Real love inspires people to follow. Love first.
- Be about building team if you want a thing to grow.
- People need and work better when they have heard an honest declaration of the good in them. Encourage people.
- We’re not delicate. Work hard.
- Keep moving.
- Life is better when we invite people into it with us. Multiply the good in you.
- Christ and his love give us boundaries. Be constrained.
- You decide what you love. You don’t discover it. Be shaped toward the good.
- It is best to lead by inspiring people to follow, not by gathering authority.
- Dream big, pray often and live toward the accomplishment of those prayers. Carry the bigger vision as your own, because it is.
lists
04
Jul 16
I have found these things to be universally true.
08
Apr 15
Things I learned this month in Canada, India and Los Angeles
This month, James B. (a fellow staff Hillside Missions staff member) and I traveled to Canada, India and Los Angeles consecutively.
In Canada, members of World Horizons staff and leadership met with the leadership of the ACOP denomination. Together, we’ll be working to send more missionaries to places in the world yet to be reached with the gospel.
In India, James and I worked with a team to open the first on-field art gallery in our effort to build an art-as-mission ministry.
In Los Angeles, several members of our World Horizons team represented the organization at Biola University’s missions conference. Our conference display included out first pop-up art gallery.
The three week trip went great. As a result of the trip, there are new missionaries on their way to the field through our mission training internship, there is a new platform for disciple-making in India, new relationships with universities and ministries are in development for the multiplication of mission sending and I learned new things.
Here’s a list of some of the things I learned:
- The world’s largest dinosaur is in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada.
- A poutinerie is a restaurant that serves only poutine. (http://mybigcheese.com/our-menu/)
- Eston College may be small, but they’re aiming to do big things in the nations. (http://www.estoncollege.ca/)
- Canada is cold.
- The Indian holiday called “Holi” is my new favorite celebration.
- If you over-pay the neighborhood boy who collects the trash, he will always expect to be over-paid (and it’s still worth it).
- In order to start a popular art gallery in India, at minimum you need: white paint ($250), lighting ($200), cleaning supplies ($25), promotional flyers ($20), artists to present art they have made for good purposes ($?).
- Los Angeles loves tacos.
- Biola University will produce lots of missionaries to work among unreached peoples. (http://www.biola.edu/)
- In order to have a popular pop-up art gallery in Los Angeles, you need recycled pallets ($120), white paint ($50), nails and hardware ($50), artists to present art they have made for good purposes ($?).
- A 5 passenger car has room for more than 5 people.
- Raw beef works well as a sermon illustration.
- 5 Hour Energy Drink works well for at least 2 hours.
Interested in mission training, sending, art as mission or something else? Feel free to contact me. I’d probably love to talk to you.
08
Apr 15
My Rules for My Life – another incomplete list
On Food and Drink
Drink your coffee black.
Drink your whiskey neat.
Eat your beef medium or medium rare.
Eat your beef.
Cook with butter. Never use margarine.
Make bread.
On Family
Kids are portable.
Don’t take your kids everywhere.
Eat together.
Fight with Nerf guns.
On Friendship
Love big. Need people and tell them you need them.
Put others first.
On Gifts
Give gifts that have good personal meaning and value.
An inexpensive, but thoughtful gift is better than a gift that is only valuable because it’s expensive.
Give gifts.
On Restaurants
Avoid chain restaurants.
If you must split a check, give more than you owe and never take out a calculator.
Tip 20% minimum.
Never send food or drinks back simply because you don’t like it.
If someone at your table needs more time before ordering, say so. Help the waitstaff avoid the awkward long-pause.
On Grace and Class
Bodily functions and emissions shouldn’t be discussed or exhibited with anyone other than a doctor. And even then, it’s probably not that necessary.
Never snap or whistle at another human being.
Commenting on the physical attractiveness of a third party is almost always a bad idea.
Learn people’s names.
Be a friend first, Facebook later.
React small to the bad stuff.
On Reading
Always be reading something informative and something shallowly entertaining concurrently.
Read on a Kindle reader.
Read first, Facebook later.
On Health
Eat healthy and exercise just often enough to be able to eat unhealthy and relax often enough.
On Fashion
Never tuck in a collarless shirt.
Dry-cleaned and professionally laundered clothes are good for the soul.
Buy more shoes.
Wear more rings.
A sportcoat makes it look better.
Don’t put tattoos where they can’t be easily hidden.
On Productivity
Work hard. There’s big stuff to do.
Prioritize your schedule. Save your “dessert” for last.
Write everything in Evernote first.
Build your life toward some big, scary and right goals.
On Faith
Decide to believe.
On Other Stuff
Avoid the trendy stuff.
Use and carry an all-metal Parker Jotter pen.
Listen to the music that moves you – even if they laugh at you.
Tell people about the good you notice in them. Don’t withhold love and praise.
31
Jan 15
Road Trip Rules
I love road trips with our teams of staff and interns. We often rent big vans and drive to events for our organization. Here are some of the rules.
1. No human gaseous emissions.
2. No touching, lap-sitting, massaging, head-resting on/with a person of the opposite gender – unless it’s your spouse.
3. No headphones. Be with us.
4. The driver chooses the music.
5. No ketchup.
6. No chain restaurants. We will eat good food.
7. Garbage always goes immediately into a garbage bag.
8. No uninvited backseat driving.
9. No whining.
10. An arbitrary number of good-will points is awarded to those stuck in a middle seat.
24
Jan 15
Stuff from a Communications 101 class
- You are not your audience. Everyone does not think like you do. Don’t make bad assumptions.
- Rhyming or starting each point with the same letter doesn’t make your message more memorable. It makes it seem cheap.
- Avoid cliches always. (n.b. We should only get to use some version of “life is a journey” once in our life. Let’s assume you’ve used your chance.)
- We probably don’t ever need you to tell us how the dictionary or “Webster” define anything. Never use any version of the phrase “according to the dictionary…”
- Avoid using “you” when you mean “I”. (e.g. “When someone yells at you, you feel angry.” should probably be “When someone yells at me, I feel angry.”)
- If it’s boring for you to write or say, it’s probably boring for us to read or hear.
- Velveeta is not cheese.
- Don’t use more words when fewer will suffice.
- You can put cream and sugar in your coffee, but you’d be wrong.
- Inspire creativity in yourself by getting out of the ordinary routines. Fill your head with new stimuli and then create.
- Never read from your notes or recite your own words from memory while speaking. Talk naturally through your ideas.
- Never be the hero of the stories you tell.
- Find opportunities to reveal your passion and personality in your speaking. But don’t forget to be gracious.
28
Oct 14
Stuff I Like and Stuff I Don’t Like – an incomplete list
Stuff I Like:
Black coffee
Carrot juice
God
Cooking
A good wine glass
86% dark chocolate
All-metal Parker Jotter pens
Reading to my kids
Warm bread
Butter
Sushi
Shoes
Meats
Cheese
Cities
Kindle E-readers
Friends at my dining room table
Stuff I Don’t Like:
Fast food restaurants
Instant food
Airplane food
Generic Q-Tips
Camping
Low sodium soy sauce
Sit-coms
Laziness
Disposable plates and utensils
Velveeta and “American” cheese
the middle seat on airplanes
Pig brain tacos
Mint flavored desserts
Whining
Low-fat ______
Pets (yes, even yours)
Sentences with hashtags instead of words
Suburbs
Feel free to remind me if I missed something.
04
Mar 14
Some good things I’ve learned from people.
I’ve learned good things from people. I’ve been thinking about a few of those things and people today.
These things made me better.
From my former manager – Tony K.
You’re not fully dressed unless you’re wearing a belt.
Always carry a pen.
Never have a meeting without a printed agenda.
From the pastor of the church I grew up in – Joe J.
Commitment to a cause can be measured by a person’s checkbook and date book.
From my 5th grade teacher – Mr. Wiseman
The Old Man and the Sea is Good Literature
Simon and Garfunkel is good music
From my 7th grade History Teacher – Mr. Bagley
You can call the country “ear-rack” or “ear-rock”, but you may not call it “eye-rack” or “eye-rock”
From my former youth pastor – Carl R.
Men should behave as knights. Women should be treated as queens.
From my mother
There is no such thing as too much compassion.
From my father
Spelling always counts.
30
Jul 13
Eight Commandments of Facebook Etiquette
1. Never post an “if you were a decent human, you would click ‘like'” message.
2. Never let a game or app automatically “invite” your friends to play.
3. Make love not war.
4. Do not re-post urban myths, religious conspiracy theories or other spammy nonsense.
5. Never use a shirtless photo of yourself as your profile photo.
6. Learn the meaning of the words “literally” and “random” before you use them.
7. Think twice, post once.
8. Understand the concept of the “humblebrag” before you post.
Do you have one or two for the list?
29
Jul 13
Questions I think I’ll ask about the boy my daughter wants to marry
Does he love God more than life?
Does he have purpose?
Does he have big dreams?
Is he smart enough to make his dreams happen?
Does he work hard?
Does he do what he says he will do?
Does he appreciate truly good food?
Does he know it’s more important to be generous and gracious than frugal and efficient?
23
Jul 13
Preventing Idiocy: Classes people should take as adults
This list is in progress. Feel free to contribute thoughts.
The bare minimum essentials:
Creative Writing
Visual Design
Public Speaking
Hermeneutics
Statistics
Geography
Philosophy
Nutrition
Electives: