"I've experienced how none of us go through life without mistakes." These words were spoken by former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford in reference to a scandal that happened during his second term in office. In 2009, Sanford headed to Argentina without telling his family or any of his staff members. Reporters and others were told he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. He also didn't tell them he was going to see his mistress. The trip and its aftermath led to his divorce. I'll let you decide if he mistakenly packed his luggage and purchased an airline ticket. Do you think he ended up in Argentina by accident? Our culture is comfortable with mistakes. What we don't talk much about is sin. That's unfortunate. If we only make mistakes, then all we need to do is try harder or be a better person. But mistakes aren't our real problem; sin…
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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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