"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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In my communion meditation this weekend, I referenced Paul's conversion story in Acts 22 as a good model for relating with God. Three times in the book of Acts this story is told. In Acts 22, Saul (soon to be Paul) asks Jesus two questions: Who are you, Lord? (v. 8) What shall I do, Lord? (v. 10) These questions are in the proper order. So often we want to jump straight into what God wants us to do without first asking who it is we are dealing with. "Who are you, Lord?" ought to be our first question. Before we can create we must know the Creator. Perhaps we prefer action over contemplation because action seems to be accomplishing something. What we may not realize is this: getting to know God is action enough. As Christ-followers, our actions / strategies / movements / dreams must spring from the well…
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In ministry we talk in terms of a "calling." A person may be called to youth ministry or working with the poor. A calling is a divine placement upon a person's life. It's passion and purpose wrapped up in one. Here's another way of thinking about it: people who are living and functioning out of a sense of calling are following their compass and not watching a clock.
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In their new book, The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work, authors Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer talk about what motivates employees. In a Harvard Business School article, Carmen Nobel uses their book to talk about small wins versus major breakthroughs: But fortunately, seemingly minor victories turned out to be nearly as effective as major breakthroughs when it came to enhancing employees' inner work lives and, therefore, inducing their passion and creativity. The book refers to these as "small wins." "We found that 28 percent of small events of all kinds had a major impact on inner work life," Amabile says. "This is good news! Big breakthroughs at work are really rare. But small wins are something people can experience pretty regularly if the work is chunked down to manageable pieces. This suggests that you really do have to sweat the small…
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