Time is (not) Money

From The Best of Guerrilla Marketing:

Successful people also used to boast about how busy they were.

According to the author, time is the most important resource we have.

Not money.

Everyone is busy. Everyone has schedules, to do lists, jobs, families, friends, and TV shows to keep up on (!).

Instead of saying 'I don't have time for . . . (whatever that is)', instead say 'I spend my time . . . '. I'll admit, I'm tempted to use the 'I don't have time' excuse, but really, I have the same amount of time as everyone else.

Instead of trying to compete with others by saying how busy you are (or, how unbusy you are, as both can be dangerous), make time for the people that matter to you. And for the things that matter to you.

Instead of wondering how 'so and so does it all' or how 'so and so has time for . . .', do a time audit. How do you spend your time? I know I'd have more time for more important things if I shut off the TV from time to time.

Quit Screaming at the Computer!

A good insight from Anything You Want:

So when we yell at a website or a company, using our computer or phone, we forget that it’s not an appliance but a person that’s affected. It’s dehumanizing to have thousands of people passing through our computer screens, so we do things we’d never do if those people were sitting next to us.

If you ever read the comments sections on blogs or newspapers, you already know this to be true.

To have a friend, be a friend . . .

I'm familiar with the friendship between the biblical friendship of David and Jonathan. Jonathan's dad, Saul, is the sitting king. David, fresh after his triumph of Golaith, is the king in waiting. Saul spends much time and energy plotting to take out his rival David, and the text reveals many of his plots are thwarted by his own son Jonathan!

Couple thoughts/questions:

• Jonathan went against his dad for the sake of his friend. What would that have been like?


• Jonathan arguably gave up his rightful claim to the throne for his friend. What would that have been like?


• What would it look like to be a friend like that? To have a friend like that?

Psych 101

I have a gumball machine in my office- a fun thing for the kids to have in the office and also a sure way to make sure we keep our dentist employed. The other day my one son wanted some gumballs so he uses the 'community' coin jar I have right by it and got three. For himself. I intervened and said you can keep one for yourself but have to give the other two to your siblings (the remaining sibling already had one). He opted to put all the gumballs back rather than giving up the other two. Apparently the best choice was everyone having none (when he thought he could have three) rather than everyone having one!

I think there's a pscyh experiment in there somewhere . . .

The Bait of Experience

The only way you can get experience is by doing something. Once you have experience, it can be the most valuable thing you have regardless of your endeavor- work, volunteering, marriage, parenting, athletics, music, etc. Doesn't matter. The temptation though, once you have experience, is to stop there. Since you have a baseline of experience, there's no need to keep growing, keep learning, or keep doing the things that got you that experience in the first place.

Each fall I have the opportunity to talk to seminary students about finances and financial issues in ministry. For me, it's gravy. Just a real neat opportunity to talk about the reality that money plays in ministry, whether it's a church, a counseling office, the mission field, or a nonprofit. Reagrdless of the location or the vocation, you will deal with money. And each year I speak with the group and share my experience (both the good and the bad). After the event is over, I get why those who get paid to teach and speak like it so much (and this is especially true for those who travel as speakers or teachers, often giving the same speech or talk in different settings). You have enough experience to know your stuff, the audience is receptive to it, and the feedback is normally pretty good. What's not to like?!? But if you stop there, you'll lose what you got there in the first place.

If the speakers and teachers in your life are telling outdated stories and remembering the good ol' days of when they used to be in your shoes, the ones that do, they're coasting on past experience.

Rules of Thumb

Some personal rules of thumb:

• You can move anything with a two wheel cart- It's true. I've moved refrigerators, couches, tables, book shelves, office desks and even a seriously heavy 4 drawer file cabinent with just me and a two wheel cart. And when people look at me, they don't wonder if I played football . . .


• Only boring people get bored- learned this one from mom and I find myself telling my own kids the same thing, and it's true. If your life consists of what's coming up next on TV, you will probably be bored, but if you don't, then boredom will seldom come your way.


• You can achieve a lot if you don't care who gets the credit- I think Reagan may have first said this, but it is so true. We're wired to seek attention and our egos crave credit and recognition. Those things aren't bad, but seeking those things can stall projects and accomplish less than what's possible. If you can genuinley care about not getting the credit, you'll accomplish far more, and still feel good about yourself. Win win.


• Leaders are readers (or leaders are learners)- it's too bad that so many people think that after graduation (be it high school, college, or grad school) that they are done learning. School ought to instill a lifelong love for learning whatever your enterprise, not serve simply as a means to an end. And there are so many good tools and resources available today that by putting in some time, you can read enough material and grasp the concepts worth of a degree. You won't have the degree, but other than the piece of paper, you'll have the same result . . .

Tradition

Traditions are funny things, especially when you put them in the context of church. Most if not all traditions start off as wonderful and meaningful things. As the years go by, however, those wonderful and meaningful things turn into something that no one really knows about anymore. It's simply what we have always done. Like this joke about cutting off the ends of a ham!

This week Hillcrest participated in a couple of things that have become somewhat of a tradition. The first is providing treats for those vote at our facility. Tuesday was a special election for Sioux Falls and thus we provided doughnut holes and cookies for the voters as it's been something we've done now for the last several elections. It's become tradition I guess because the voters remember it and look forward to it. The election people even tell us that kids beg to come with their parents to vote because they know they will get a treat. One guy wanted to arrive when the polls opened so he could vote and get a treat!

The second occurred Wednesday Night as we put on our annual carnival for the kids at Children's Home Society. I honestly had forgotten about the event until an email a couple months ago wondering if we were doing the carnival again as the kids loved it and look forward to it. Why, of course! By now the event doesn't take a lot of planning, Hillcresters are eager to help, and it's become somewhat of a tradition- and a good one at that!

You are Here

You know those maps in malls that say "you are here"? What an invention- especially for guys, who for the most part detest spending any time in a mall! Tell me where I am- show me where the sporting goods store is and I can figure out to get there based on your map.


I wonder what might happen if we treated our spiritual journeys more like this kind of map. Often, I think, we approach spiritual journeys as something like school- it's one size fits all and the goal for everyone is graduation. We move at the same pace, learn the same things, and receive the same diploma. But what if we approached it more like a mall map, where's there different destinations? At the mall, some want the food court, others want Sears or Macy's, and others want to find the play park. With our spiritual lives, we might simply want to meet other people, or explore foundational questions about the faith, or focus on a topic like marriage or parenting, or perhaps something more experiential like serving or missions. I think we make it pretty tough when we assume everyone is starting at Point A and that everyone wants to get to Point B and do all the same things along the way. But if we look at things more like a mall map, there's flexibility, freedom of choice, and the ability to move around when considering our own spiritual journies.

Reggie McNeal used a different but very helpful analogy when he compares spiritual development to joining a gym. When you join a gym, you have a specific goal in mind. It might require a group or maybe just a trainer. You might want to lose some weight or run a 5k. But the goals are different and unique and a good gym is set up to help you with your goal.

How might that look in the church?

Random Thoughts

Some random thoughts:

• I am doing terrible at fantasy football, thanks to Chris Johnson, Peyton Hillis and a team full of under-achievers. After winning championships in 2009 and 2010, the dynasty comes to an end.




• It's no secret that I love to read and I always thought that I'd prefer books over e-books, but now with the ability to read books on my phone thanks to the Kindle app, I'm hooked. Especially with the ability to 'bookmark' on the kindle. Brilliant. Not sure how I will footnote thoughts I like, however!




• If I am not careful, I could get hooked on this game!




• Interesting article on Halloween from the Christian recording artist Mandissa.




• How many animated movies can Hollywood make that are a) against humans taking over the environment b) against business or as in the case in many of them c) against both a and b? Seriously. I get it. After watching Cars 2, Rango, and seeing previews of the upcoming release Happy Feet 2 I get it. Humans are bad. Animals are good. And the environment is king. And if any human activity threatens animal activity or the kingdom of nature, then it is bad. Oh, and it will also make for a great movie, which will make the studios (already filthy rich) even richer. Ironic.

Counterfeit Gods

Recently read Tim Keller's book Counterfeit Gods. Very good stuff as much of what Keller writes is. Some takeaways:

• What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living (xvii-xviii).

• People who have never suffered in life have less empathy for others, little knowledge of their own shortcomings and limitations, no endurance in the face of hardship, and unrealistic expectations for life (15).

• Tithing is a minimum standard for Christian believers. We certainly wouldn’t want to be in a position of giving away less of our income than those who had so much less of an understanding of what God did to save them (62).

• The increasing political polarization and bitterness we see in US politics today is a sign that we have made political activism into a form of religion (100).

Good stuff indeed.

Thinking and Doing

Are you a thinker who does or a doer who thinks?

Both are important as is knowing the difference between the two.

Equally important is staying away from being a thinker who never does or being a doer who never thinks.