Each day at Opportunity Camp I'm sharing a parable from Jesus. Today's parable was "The Unmerciful Servant." It's the story (Matthew 18:21-35) of the man who is forgiven of a multi-million dollar debt who refuses to forgive a fellow co-worker of a few bucks. It's a powerful story about forgiveness and perspective. How easy it is for us to want to be forgiven; how hard it is for us to be forgiving. After tonight's talk, a little boy eight or nine years-old approached me on the stage. He whispered a question: "How many times do I have to forgive someone who is mean to me? Do I really have to forgive them hundreds of times?" And then he said something that nearly broke my heart: "I really want him to like me but he doesn't." He was referring to another camper. His eyes were tearing up, which made my eyes…
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Day one of Opportunity Camp is drawing to a close - at least for me. Our cleaning crews are just now hitting the bathrooms, rubber gloves up to their elbows. Our theme this year is about the stories of Jesus. I'm retelling different parables in the morning and then applying them at night. Today's parable was about the sower and the soil from Matthew 13. I spoke this evening about three ways to prepare your soil/life for God's involvement: plow the soil put down roots pull the weeds At any given, we may be doing all three. Spiritual growth and development is rarely linear. In other words, it's not as easy or straightforward as doing this, then this, then that ... and here comes the growth. But spiritual growth does require intentionality. It also requires action. We can't just think our way to a better, more meaningful spiritual life. For…
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Contented Cows is a great blog about how to facilitate cooperation in the workplace. The premise is simple: contented cows produce more and better milk. While not looking to produce milk, as a leader I am interested in how to create an environment where people can be productive, feel appreciated, and accomplish great things. In that spirit, I pass along this post entitled "Stop Being Ordinary!" ****************** Have you seen the YouTube video of the Thomson Airways (a UK carrier) safety video? If not, click on it (above), take 3 and a half minutes to look at it, then keep reading. Sure, it’s cute. The kids are really good. Adorable. And the creative team that put it together is brilliant. But what makes it work is that it’s anything but ordinary. Thomson passengers actually watch the thing, and I have to believe that retention of the material is off the…
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Do you have stray gift cards laying around (or in your wallet) that have small balances left on them? Instead of throwing them away, considering sending them to GiftCardGiver.com and let them route them to a non-profit that can use them to benefit others. Here's an excerpt from their story: Four friends had an idea to collect gift cards and give them to people in need. They went to a gathering and asked 8 people how much money in unused Gift Cards they had in their wallets and walked away with $50 in Gift Cards to help people in need. GiftCardGiver.com was born. Gift Card Giver is a new form of giving. The Gift Card industry has risen to be a 60 billion dollar industry. Ever wonder how many gift cards are unused? More than 10%. That means billions of dollars are waiting to be used for good on Gift…
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Greg Stielstra at the PyroMarketing blog has an interesting article entitled "Are You a Stuntman?" In it he explores the difference between people who fall and break a bone and stuntmen who fall and spring right back up. Why? Two basic factors: Surprise vs. Expectation Stopping the fall vs. Starting to land Those who get hurt by falling are usually those who never expected to fall. In other words, they are surprised by the fall. Because they are surprised, they are also unprepared. The life lessons are innumerable. Stielstra also does a good job building off the old joke, "It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop." As they are falling, stuntmen are planning how they will land. It might look ugly but it's planned and thought out. Take a trip over to the article. Read it and think about how to apply it.
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