Thomas Edison was a dogged man. From his mind came things like the phonograph and the first commercially-viable incandescent lightbulb. But they didn't magically drop from his mind to reality. In the case of the lightbulb, the number of failed attempts is legendary. But he didn't quit. Thomas Edison once said that "vision without execution is hallucination." Three key words emerge from that statement: Vision. Execution. Hallucination. Vision is a popular topic for business leaders and pastors, as well as football coaches and politicians. We write vision statements. We talk about visionaries. A simple definition of vision is "to see a preferred future." This preferred future could be for your family, your ministry, or team. It's how you want the future to be. Not everyone who sees a preferred future is by default a visionary. The second key word in Edison's statement is execution. Edison didn't think the incandescent lightbulb into existence, though…
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It's 5:30 in the morning and I'm sitting in a Starbucks in Norwalk, CA (at least I think it's Norwalk ... it's dark outside and Los Angeles all looks the same to me -- with or without sun light). Hannah and I are in Los Angeles to visit five colleges in three days. Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at Azusa Pacific. Today we'll be at Biola and Westmont. On Friday we'll conclude our whirlwind tour by visiting Hope International and Point Loma Nazarene. When we return home I will start looking for second, third, and fourth jobs in order to pay for it. As we walk around the different campuses, I can't help but remember the little baby whose crib was in the second bedroom of our 800 square foot condo in Concord, CA. My "office" became her first bedroom and my computer desk was (literally) shoved inside a closet. Once,…
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Do you know how to make a cereal healthier? It's pretty simple: Change the name. Frosted Flakes were once Sugar Frosted Flakes. Sugar Smacks became Honey Smacks and then just Smacks. Corn Pops were once known as Sugar Pops. Are you noticing a trend? Rather than make the cereal more healthy, just change what it's called to a more healthy-sounding name. Then again, no one would buy Cheerios if they were called Fruit Loops Without All the Fun. The message of Ecclesiastes is to challenge the advertising of our culture; to compare it against God's truth. As Christ-followers, are call is to follow a first-century Savior who wants us to live his values in the 21st Century. That's our challenge: to effectively navigate consumerism and contentment. ********** What if cereal companies named their cereals acurately?
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We have assembled a great staff at Mountainview. God has blessed us with talented, passionate men and women who are committed to him and his church. When you have a great team, it makes ministry all that much more enjoyable. Our staff meetings regularly includes times of devotion and study. When we worship and learn together, it helps us stay focused on the things that are truly important. At a staff meeting earlier this year, I took the opportunity to remind each person that they were seated at the table because we believed they were the best qualified person for the job. We have staff members who have served at larger churches, hold more degrees, and look better than their senior pastor. Even with all that talent, I told them this: We can do better. In fact, we must do better. This is not about perfection but effectiveness. It's about the continual…
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"Mountainview exists to Glorify God, Grow in Jesus, and Go into the World." This is the third installment of how our Mountainview mission breaks down. It's about the Go. From the very beginning, Jesus expected his followers to be goers. He invited them to "come, follow me" -- an invitation that required action. Once they accepted that invitation, life with Jesus was a never-ending adventure. In his most famous sermon, Jesus describes what he expects from his followers: "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and…
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