"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." - Leonardo da Vinci This is true if you are designing a product or giving a speech. In some ways, achieving complexity may actually be easier than finding simplicity. How? Because it takes discipline to eliminate ideas, especially good ideas. Posted from WordPress for Android
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I'm reading "The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs" and loved this quote in the chapter on simplicity: "The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." - Hans Hoffman, German painter This is especially true in preaching. The overriding concern in preaching is not to overwhelm our audience with words but to speak the right word at the right time. Transformation is the goal. If we pack too much into a single message, even good stuff, the overall transformational effect will be reduced. Why? As painful as this is to admit as a preacher ... They won't remember much of what you say. If your talk, presentation, or sermon is filled with unnecessary words, strip them out. Only then will you give the necessary words a fighting chance to be heard. Posted from WordPress for Android
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The late pastor Dr. George Truett (First Baptist of Dallas) once said: "God will not ask you what kind of a church you lived in but what kind of church you longed for." What kind of church do you long for? Jesus described the type of church I long for: "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." (Matthew 16:18) A church that is on the offensive. A church that is taking the battle to the darkness. Posted from WordPress for Android
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This is from Jimmy Valvano, the coach who led NC State to the NCAA basketball title in 1983. Nearly ten years later he died of cancer. "If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day" ... Cancer can take away all my physical ability. It cannot touch my mind; it cannot touch my heart; and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever". Posted from WordPress for Android
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We were studying Acts 9 in our elders Bible study this morning. Acts 9 tells the story of Saul's (Paul) conversion to Christianity. In one simple statement Luke tells us that Ananias baptized Saul and then moves on with the rest of Acts. Never again do we hear about Ananias. Do you ever wondered what stories Ananias might have told years later, stories around the dinner table when people are sharing highlights or bragging points? "I taught the second graders in Sunday School last week", one guest might say. "I baptized Paul. Maybe you've heard of him". We don't know if Ananias ever baptized anyone else. In the world of multi-level marketing, however, Ananias would have a tremendous down-stream. Never underestimate or under-appreciate what a single person can do when they are obedient to God. Posted from WordPress for Android
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