Some of you may be familiar with Joni Eareckson Tada's story (if not, read more here).  She was paralyzed as the result of a diving accident in the late 1960's and has spent the years since building a Christian ministry to the disabled. She was once asked during a question and answer session about how she kept going despite her obvious physical challenges.  Her reply? "This is the only time in history when I get to fight for God.  This is the only part of my eternal story when I am actually in the battle.  Once I die, I'll be in celebration mode in a glorified body in a whole different set of circumstances.  But this is my limited window of opportunity, and I'm going to fight the good fight for all I'm worth." This is your time.  This is my time. What are we waiting for?

Many self-help books offer motivation -- you can lose weight, get organized, nail the interview, raise your EQ.  Basically, you can do anything you want, if you're motivated. Motivation is important, but in my opinion, it tends to be short-lived.  We motivate people towards goals.  Coaches motivate players to execute plays.  Directors motivate actors to perform.  When action is needed, motivation helps. Inspiration, on the other hand, is about asking people to tap into their noblest aspirations and dreams.  It's challenging them to take action without the promise of immediate (or even eventual) reward.  It's simply the right thing to do.  Inspiration offers satisfaction of an internal kind. Motivation may move people in a specific direction.  Inspiration may change them for the rest of their life.

Here's a simple truth with great implications: the questions you ask will shape the answers you get. If you ask about problems, you'll hear about problems.   You may or may not hear solutions.  You may not hear about what has been accomplished or achieved. If you ask about opportunities, you will likely hear answers that deal with possibilities and potential. The key to growth is to ask the right questions ... and enough questions.  Many people ask too few questions, and then the questions they may ask are framed in a limited way.  Limited question, limited answer. As Christ-followers, we need to bring a holy curiosity to our relationships, our businesses, and our churches.  As church leaders, we often make the mistake of only asking questions of those who are already in the fold.  Remember, the questions we ask will shape the answers we get.  We need to be intentional…

Any life worth living will have its share of fears. In our current teaching series at Mountainview, we're using the story of Benaiah (2 Samuel 23:20-23) to highlight what a life of passion looks like.  In the course of one paragraph, Benaiah squares off against two Moabites, a 500-lb lion, and a huge Egyptian.  Given that the invention of Prozac is still centuries away, it's likely Benaiah had a few fears. This is an important point: a life of passion is not one in which fears are absent.  That sort of life would be mundane, not magnificent.  A life of passion is one in which our largest, scariest fears are out-sized by our faith in God. As we headed into communion, I shared a story about Abraham Lincoln that Walt Whitman first wrote about in 1882: In the gloomiest period of the war, he had a call from a large…

I read an interesting article about how to get over your glory days at the Art of Manliness Blog.  Tip number one: create new firsts.