Live A Revolution... Every Day

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If you want to make a difference...

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People, Clocks and Worn Down Batteries

Below is the clock that hangs on a wall in my office. When I looked at it yesterday morning it looked fine. But when I took more time to look at it more closely, it was off by five minutes.

Then, when I checked it again this morning, I noticed it was now off by two hours!

People can be like this clock too. At first glance, things seem great. Normal. But, for a lot of people, if we would take a moment to really look beyond the surface, we would find that a lot of us are a little off. Struggling with something. And if left alone, that little may grow into more. And before we know it, it grows into a crisis.

My office clock is way off now. The problem lies inside, beneath the surface. Its batteries are worn down.

And for many, if we take the time to look beneath the surface, we'll find that they are worn down too.

The question is...

Will

You

Take

The

Time

To

Look?

I need to get better at taking the time to look at people - to really see what's going on beneath the surface. And I have my office clock to thank.

By the way, I still haven't changed the batteries. And I don't think I will - to keep this a constant reminder.

The New "See and Say" - The Gift That Keeps On Giving

As I look over my 33 years of life, one of the greatest gifts that many people gave to me at different stages of my life can be found in Romans 4v17. Check this out:

"...the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were."

This is one of my favorite passages that describes God.

How freaking awesome is that! I love that description of God.

To call things that are not as though they were... That's powerful. To help someone see who they can become, to help someone see what they can do, to cast vision into someone's being - that's catalytic.

I know from experience.

It breeds hope. It generates excitement. It creates a movement. And it has the power to change lives.

And it's something all of us can do!

It's the new See and Say.

Be Nice... NOW... Please

I struggle with being negative. I struggle with gossip. It comes natural to me. I'm sure I'm not in the minority when it comes to these two things. It sucks. I know that. And I acknowlege that. So, in an effort to hold myself accountable, I'm going to start adding a (+) sign, or a (-) sign at the end of my Twitter and blog posts. It's fairly self-explanable. If the post is positive, I add an (+) to the end. If the post is negative, I'll add an (-) to the end. Pretty simple.

Brody Harper actually started this little dealeo and has given permission to steal it... so I did. 

In the end, I want to be a person who dwells on what's good, and pure, and noble. I actually want to be "nice". And,  I want to be less "negative". But when I am, because I will be negative at some point, I want to have enough balls to call myself out.

+

This Is My Lifeline

My iPhone. I want it. I need it. Email. Calendar. Twitter. Facebook. iheartradio. Google Reader. Pandora... etc. It's my lifeline. I know, pretty sad. Which got me thinking...

What would my life look like if God was this important? What would it look like if Jesus was my Lifeline everyday?

Hmmmm...

Gadget Graveyard: 10 Technologies About to Go Extinct

I'm a gadget junkie. If I had more cash flow, I would be swimming in the latest tech toys. But I don't. In any case, I thought this was an interesting story on Fox News: Gadget Graveyard: 10 Technologies About to Go Extinct.

1. Landline Phones. If @jamiruth would let me get rid of ours, it would be gone.

2. Floppy Disks. Need I say more?

3. Wristwatches. I knew these things were on their way out 5 years ago when I asked what time it was and everyone pulled out their cell phone.

4. VHS tape and VCRs. TiVo and DVRs are so much better. But now we can watch our shows online. So when will DVRs go extinct.

5. Beepers. Seriously, they're still around? I think even the drug dealers gave up on them years ago!

6. Film cameras. I still love Polaroids where you have to shake the photo.

7. Typewriters. It's too bad they're gone. I loved throwing back the thing that moved the letters.

8. The Walkman, Discman and MiniDisc Player. I never even had the MiniDisc Player. 

9. Dial-up Internet Access. I would shoot myself if I had to go back to this.

10. DVDs. Almost all of our Dora the Explorer content is kept on our TiVo. ALL of our Backyardigans and Mickey are for sure. And I would rather rent a movie without going out.

So what did Fox News miss. Any tech toys you think will be extinct soon that didn't make the list?

I "F'ing" HATE FAKE

I've been thinking about the idea of authenticity. What does healthy authenticity look like in my life. In the life of students. Is there even a thing called healthy authenticity. That's something I'm working on - right now - in real time. 

Because I hate fakeness. Diddy might call it "Bitchazzness". I despise the idea of being "fake". I've been there and done that - all in the name of conformity. All in the name of being accepted. All in the name of fear. I HATE FAKE! 

I think we can all agree with that statement. Let's yell it together,

 "I HATE FAKE!" 

So, now that we know that I HATE FAKE, let me tell you what I love...

This past week at Revolve, I was catching up with a student I hadn't seen in a while. As he talked about how he's doing and some of the things he's going through, he dropped some colorful language. I LOVED IT! I loved every part of the conversation - swearing and all.

What, Todd? You love it when a student cusses? Yes! 

I love it when a student is real. When they're not checking themselves at the door. 

One of the things that turns my stomach is when a student checks their speech when they die in Halo 3. You know what it sounds like... 

"Oh shi--oooot." 

They're not checking their language to make a life change. They're checking their language because they're at a "religious" event and don't want me to know they cuss. They're checking it in the name of conformity, acceptance or fear. Come on now. If that's the only reason they ain't cuss'n, that's the wrong reason. I don't want anyone to stop cussing for me. If I'm the reason, it's the wrong reason.

So, I'm cool with cuss'n kids. 

Why?

Cause I HATE FAKE! I want to get to know who these students really are - not who I really want them to be - so we can get to the next level...

Life Uninterrupted - Flaky Girl Style

Everyone knows a flaky girl girl who, "Oh my God, did you just see that..." just won't shut up. Blah blah blah. And she talks and talks and talks and talks... and you want to say, "Hush". Actually, you want to say, "Shut the bleep up." But you don't cause you're a Christian and Christians don't talk like that... right. But we sure do think it. Or at least I have.

That's how life's been the last couple of days for me. 

Thebusinessandtherateatwhichthingshavehadtogetdonefeelsliketheflakygirlwhowon'tshutup! 

And while I love being busy, I don't like the feeling of life being chaotic - if feels un-natural. Just like the above sentence, I kept having to back space cause it wasn't natural to type that way. That's not the way sentences are suppose to be written. 

Life's the same way. We try to cram a whole bunch of crap into a 24 hour span - or at least I do. And it works for a while. But that's not how life is suppose to be lived. It's not natural. And it begins to feel weird. 

Chaos. It sucks. I need times in my life where I can simply be. To simply slow down and be silent. Silent in the middle of the chaos. Cause that's where I get recharged.

That's what where talking about at Revolve this Sunday night. Only we're not talking. I'm using an idea from Corey Mann and teaching through a video in complete silence to drive home the message. Should be interesting. 

I can't wait!

Thomas Nelson Book Reviewer

I follow Michael Hyatt on Twitter. Michael is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Nelson Publishers. The other day, he posted a tweet stating if you're a blogger, they will send you free books to review on your site. So I signed up yesterday. Got approved. And the book above is the first I will be reading a reviewing. I already can't wait for the next one.

Communication Is Powerful

I love the photo above. Which is better. In my view, the iPhone smokes the Crackberry. Others believe the Crackberry tears the iPhone to shreds. It's really in the eye, or hand, of the beholder. Regardless of your opinion, one thing is true, both of these phones have revolutionized the way we communicate. Because we know that communication is powerful.

I learned this by accident early on in my student ministry career. As a young, 22 year old punk, I found that people looked at me as a cute, immature kid. And while that was, and sometimes still is, true, I also found that when I began communcating what was going on in the student ministy, things changed.

And as I continue to work with students and their parents on a daily basis, I'm reminded nearly everyday that communication is powerful. Parents deserve information. They deserve to know what we're teaching their kids. They deserve to know the details of events. They deserve to know the itinerary of mission trips. And they deserve to know why little Johnny got in trouble. Parents deserve information. And I think we all know and would agree with that truth.

So when I learned to communicate to the students' parents, things changed. Here's what I found:

It Helped me to be seen as someone who's credible

Promoted a team atmosphere between the me and the parents

Kept me accountable for my responsibility to lead their child

Helped ease their mind regarding their child's safety

Helped to promote discussion between the parent and their child

And the same still holds true today. Just like the differences between the iPhone and Crackberry, there are different ways and tools to communcate to parents. It doesn't matter what style or tools you use, it simply matters that you communicate. Because communication is powerful.