He is Risen!

It's Easter Sunday and the tomb is empty.  He is risen and he is risen indeed!

As I met with my men's group some time back, we talked about why we follow Jesus.  And one of the reasons we follow Jesus is because of what we celebrate this day- an empty tomb.  As important and meaningful and sacrificial Christ's work on the cross was/is, it means nothing if the tomb is empty.  If Christ suffered the horrific death he suffered on the cross and is dead in a tomb somewhere, there's simply nothing special about that.  The importance of the crucifixion is found in the resurrection.  For as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, if Christ did not raise from the dead, our faith is useless.

He is risen!

Getting the Incentive Right

A family is on food stamps.  One of the family's main sources of income is Joe, who works at a restaurant as a line cook.  His boss is happy with his work and wants to promote him to shift manager.  With the increase in responsibility comes an increase in pay and more dependable hours.  However, the increase in pay will knock his family completely off of food stamps.  While the raise is nice, it's not enough to make up for the loss of food stamps.  Because food stamps is 'all or nothing', Joe thanks his boss for the opportunity, but decides to stay as a line cook.  That's getting the incentive wrong.

An under-resourced person completes a non-profit's financial management program.  The incentive for completing the program is a gift card to a local grocery store.  As more time passes, the person is eligible for two more gift cards for implementing the program into her financial life.  At the meeting where the client receives the gift card, the client reveals a recent social security settlement and the new vehicle she financed with the windfall.  While the nonprofit didn't know of this ahead of time, the gift card incentive seems pretty paltry compared to a new car.  That's getting the incentive wrong.

A dentist offers to donate some of her services to patients who can't afford dental care.  She sees a patient who's long overdue for dental work and estimates the patient needs thousands of dollars of dental work.  The dentist is aware of a grant program which subsidizes dentists for their donation of time and covers the costs for qualified patients.  After setting up the appointment for her qualified patient, the dentist notices the patient leaving the office with a large soda and lighting up a cigarette.  That's getting the incentive wrong.

If you want to change behavior, it's important to consider the incentive for changing the behavior.  Get the incentive right, chances are you'll change behavior.  Select a fuzzy incentive, however, and you will have a more difficult time with changing the behavior.

Social Media for Ministry

I'm no social media maven, so I found this book (and really, it's more of a pamphlet) helpful, especially if you're confused by all this "hashtag" business!

Change and the Y

There's changes being proposed at our local Y.  If you're really curious, you can read about it here.  What's more interesting, though, is how different people react to the change (I'll admit, being a relatively newer member of the Y, I too had/have my own concerns).  Two observations on this particular change and maybe all change in general:

• We filter change through how it affect us- not knowing the exact the plan of change, we will filter it through how it impacts us.  In the guys' locker room, an avid racquetball player assumed the change wouldn't affect the racquetball courts.  One of my friends wondered what the Y would do with much of the new exercise equipment they just bought and that my friend friend uses frequently.  Those who most often use the pools assume the pools will stay (though rumor is it won't).
• We all like to be insiders- the closer we are to deciding the change, the better we feel about the change.  Again, from the guys' locker room, one of the guys who was part of the decision was telling the (aforementioned) avid racquetball player of the change.  The guy who part of the decision felt very comfortable with the change.  The racquetball player listening felt less comfortable, but if the courts were spared, would probably be ok.  And me, being the most removed as I am simply overhearing the conversation, noticed a spike in my heart rate, even though I hadn't began my workout!  Only kidding!  

How to Deliver a TED Talk

No- I am not planning on giving a TED talk anytime soon.  But for anyone who has to speak in public, this book is a good, quick read at improving your skills.  My takeaways are below, and you can find a better review here.

• One of the biggest mistakes that speakers make is trying to pack a lifetime worth of learning into a single talk
• Remember that the first ten or twenty seconds of your speech is the peak of your audience’s engagement level
• The most consistently successful opening is the personal story
• A quick list of how not to open your speech
• With a cliché- it is cliché even if it is relevant
• With a joke- see cliché
• With anything mildly offensive to your audience- seems obvious
• With “thank you”- if you want to thank your audience, do it at the end
• With “before I begin”- because you just began!
• Since pleasure is a more powerful long term motivation than pain, I recommend telling stories with positive ending the vast majority of the time.
• The most viewed TED speakers deliver an average of one joke per minute in their keynote speeches.  The best deliver around two jokes per minute.  The secret is that the jokes are not evenly spread out.  When they hit a funny theme, they ‘riff’ on the theme with clusters of three, progressively funnier quips. 
• Keep in mind that the slides are for the benefit of your audience, not gigantic crib notes for you.

You Can't Fool the Dentist

What do you do (or what did your parents tell you to do) before you were about to see the dentist?  Brush your teeth.  Maybe floss them.  You know, get them all cleaned up before your check-up.

Here's the thing, though- you can't fool the dentist.  He or she will immediately be able to tell if you've been brushing your teeth and flossing.  Doesn't matter what you say, doesn't matter what you check on the pre-visit form, doesn't matter how well you brushed right before the visit- if you haven't been doing it consistently, the dentist will know.

You can't fool the dentist.

Sidenote- I never hear of anyone hitting the treadmill quick before his annual physical . . . you know, as if one quick run is going to magically bring down my cholesterol or blood pressure . . .

We can tend to see life as a series of performance checks- be it at work, at school, with a dentist, and even church.  But if we have no daily structure (or discipline or habits) supporting those performance checks, then we can do all we want right before the check, and it won't matter, because we can't fool the dentist.

The Art of Doing

Read this book and found it to be pretty interesting.  It's broken into short chapters interviewing some rather famous people (Alec Baldwin, Martina Navratilova, a 12 year old gal who sailed around the world alone, etc) and what they have to say on getting things done.  I skipped a few of the entries, but found a few of these takeaways:

• Anna Netrebko, famous opera singer- No matter how big you become, you can never be self-satisfied and say, ‘okay, I’ve made it’ because the next day you have to go back and prove yourself again. 
• Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappo, leading online shoe company- Great companies have  a strong culture of values.  It doesn’t matter what those value are; what matters is that you have them.  If you want your company to be great, you have to figure out what your value are.
• Michael Sitrick, CEO of one of the world’s top crisis management firms-  Almost all newspeople believe in the power of the “story”.  Regardless of how actual events occur, journalists believe that the best way to recount these events is in the form of a story with a beginning, a middle and an end, with drama, conflict and surprising twists. 
• Bill Gross, CEO of Idealab, responsible for the creation of nearly 100 businesses- There are so many problems in the world that beg for solutions.  Find the ones that you are passionate about and devote yourself to them.
• Guy Kawasaki, business guru and entrepreneur- Frequent communication doesn’t mean you communicate when everything else is done—you do it all the time.  

Some Good Devos for Work

Looking for some good devotional material for the workplace?  I'd recommend this and/or this.

Youth Group for Adults

This last week at Hillcrest, we've had a photo scavenger hunt that took groups throughout the city.  We had a little St. Patrick's trivia at the beginning of each service this past Sunday complete with shanrock shakes for the participants. Also this past Sunday, we had a big bash for our volunteers which included giving each family with kids a prepaid card for the restaurant's arcade.  And this week our women's ministries will host a movie night for moms and daughters and our men's ministries will fill out brackets for March Madness.

The point?  Church should be fun.  Or, church should be like youth group for adults.  One of (the best?!) the great things about youth ministry is how much fun the students and leaders have.  Game time each week.  Silly stage contests before the lesson.  Hanging out after the lesson at a restaurant.  Service trips to the inner city and bonding trips to camp and amusement parks.  Yes, there is of course more to youth ministry and church then playing chubby bunnies and or racing go karts.

But the fun parts of church and faith shouldn't stop just because you've graduated from high school . . .    

Get to the Balcony

Sometimes, you feel like you've read a book without actually reading it.  That's how I feel about this book.  I actually haven't read it, but several of the book I have recently read have all referenced it or drawn on principles from it.  The book is a renown guide on negotiating and written by experts who have vast experience on conflict between corporations, governments, and foreign nations.

One of the key things I've pulled from this book I've never read(!) is the concept called "get to the balcony".  The authors- and those who have cited the authors- describe this idea as trying to see things from the other person's perspective.  When you're in the middle of a conflict with an employee, a fight with your spouse, trying to change your child's behavior, or any other number of potential conflicts we find ourselves in, the authors encourage you and I to get to the balcony.  Can you see things from their perspectives?  Can you understand where they are coming from?  Can you repeat what they said (and more importantly), listen to them without trying to figure out what you're going to say next?  It's not rocket science, but it (apparently) takes Harvard trained professionals to remind us of these timeless principles when it comes to conflict.    

The Story in Acts

Stephen does it in Acts 7.  And Paul also does it in Acts 13.  Peter makes several references to it throughout the book of Acts.

What?

They summarize God's story for the people listening to them.

They start in Genesis, continue through Exodus, and retell much of God's redemptive work through people- both those 'in' God's family and those 'outside' God's family.

As Hillcrest continues The Story, and I read through Acts, I'm (again) reminded of how important it is to know God's story from start to finish.

For the early apostles, God's story was a starting point.  And it can still be one today.

How We Think About Charities

Really interesting TED talk on some different thinking concerning charities.

Integrity Checks

Integrity checks.  Situations in life where your integrity is tested, where no one may ever know if you chose to do the right thing or not.  I had another one happen the other day.  I ordered a year's worth of contact lenses from Wal Mart.  They had one box on hand when I placed my order and said they'd call me when the rest of my order arrived.  They called, I picked up my order, I went home.  Something didn't feel right, though.  I now had 3 boxes of lenses and I couldn't make the math work- there were simply too many lenses for my eyes to go through in a year.  So I checked my original receipt, checked the box's UPC code, and sure enough I had an extra box.  A $75 dollar mistake on Wal Mart's end.  I returned the box the next day.

Times such as these- whenever they happen- are integrity checks.  I'd like to think I've passed every integrity check that's come my way, but I haven't.  No one is perfect.  And yet each integrity check comes for a reason and is an opportunity to demonstrate integrity.

Bono on Poverty

Interesting talk from U2's Bono on some good news surrounding poverty (PG-13).

Celebrate Your Volunteers!

Today is one of my favorite days!  No, not St. Patrick's Day (though that is a great day as well!).  It's Hillcrest's Annual Volunteer Appreciation Event.  We've done this event several years now, and it's a fun event we throw for our church's volunteers.  There's a meal at the Pizza Ranch, gift cards for the kids to use at the Pizza Ranch's arcade, and all kinds of sweet prizes (Starbucks cards, Movie tickets, and free oil changes to name a few) for our awesome volunteers.  And everything is free.  It'll cost us well over a thousand dollars to pull off the event, but we look at it as an investment in people, not as the total cost.

Here's the thing- to be a volunteer means to give of your time without a tangible reward.  If you get a tangible reward for your time, you've moved from being a volunteer to being an employee!

Volunteers often receive intangible rewards- the smile of a child, the note from a teacher, the text from a student, the postcard from a leader, but it is also important to celebrate volunteers with tangible rewards- a gift card, a lunch out, a public recognition.

If you work with volunteers, how can you celebrate them?

Use the Active Voice

I have some free advice on writing and English though I have limited experience and education in writing and English(!)- use the active voice as much as possible.

Two examples:

• Active voice example- I broke the lamp when I was cleaning the basement.
• Passive voice example- The lamp broke when I was cleaning the basement.

Sidenote- if you're a parent, you hear the passive voice all the time!

When you use the active voice, you demonstrate you're in control.  You take responsibility.  In organizational behavior, we call it 'internal locus of control'.

Using the passive voice means giving control to someone else (second sidenote- how could you rewrite that statement in the active voice?!).  The lamp broke and you have no idea how it happened.  In org behavior, we call it 'external locus of control'.  

When you can, write in the active voice.

More free advice?  I use the active voice most often in professional writing- things such as recommendations letters and revising people' resumes and cover letters.  

Drinking from a Fire Hose

I can remember reading a book from a well-known pastor some time ago about his routines.  His time with God routine included significant time in the word, prayer, and journaling.  His work routine included blocking off large chunks of time- in some instances days and even weeks- for planning, preparing, and developing the church and her ministries.  The temptation after reading something like that- if you're like me- is to try and automatically implement it.

Do so at your own risk.

After reading several of these accounts, I began to figure out that these guys and gals were farther along down life's path than I was.  Their kids were grown or their kids were older.  Their staffs were bigger.  Whatever it was, they hadn't necessarily developed those habits when they were my age or at my life stage (not saying life gets less busy or easier the older you get).  So I began to filter the wisdom from these spiritual giants through my own life stage.  If you have young kids and you're not sleeping through the night, there's little chance you'll be able to spend an hour journaling all your insights from your quiet time.  Instead, figure how to implement some of what you're learning into your stage of life.  You'll feel better, and you won't be blown away like drinking from a fire hose.

The Power of Habit and Your Quiet Time

Following up on yesterday's post from the book The Power of Habit, what if we applied it to one of the areas Christ-followers seemed to get the most frustrated with- a daily time with God.  Some call it a quiet time, others call it devotions.  Doesn't matter.  I've met many Christ-followers- and I've experienced myself- the challenge of trying to spend daily time with God.  Using the habit loop, here's what this might look like:

• Cue- in order to set a routine, you need a cue.  For me, my cue is my alarm.  Because I'm able to read Scripture while on an elliptical machine, my alarm also doubles as my work-out cue.  Seriously, if I miss my workout, I am much more likely to miss time in the Word.  Your cue could be your alarm, but it could be your first cup of coffee, your first five minutes at work, or the last thing you do before going to bed.
• Routine- in today's age, there's no shortage of resources available to help you with your routine.  For those with a smartphone or tablet, there's Youversion loaded with Bible translations, all kinds of devotionals, and other resources.  Our church puts together a daily devotional we give out each week.  And of course, there's your local bookstore, Amazon, or CBD with tons of choices as well.  We ought not to have any excuses with the routine.
• Reward- perhaps the most difficult aspect when it comes to the quiet time.  We're tempted to be overly spiritual and say the time with our Savior is reward enough, but if that were true, few of us would have this struggle!  So, setting a reward is important.  At first, I think the reward needs to be tangible.  I'll have my first cup of coffee after my quiet time.  I'll read the paper or check Facebook after my quiet time.  I'll go to bed after my quiet time.  You get the idea.  I think the more developed the habit becomes, the more you are able to replace these temporal rewards with more eternal ones such as answered prayers, times when God met you, times when your time in the word gave you what needed to face something during your day.  When the eternal rewards start to become important, the habit of a quiet time sticks.       

And if you're interested in what Don Miller had to say about the book, you can find it here.

The Power of Habit

Recently read a great book called The Power of Habit.  It looks at habits- both personal habits and corporate habits- and seeks to understand why habits work.  It's full of great stories and insights from diverse areas such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Pepsodent Toothpaste, Saddleback Church, Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement, and Target.  In fact, one of the more interesting stories comes from a researcher at Target who's developed software that can actually predict (or tell) which of its customers are pregnant based on purchases they make.  Now, that's not too terribly surprising.  If a customer buys prenatal vitamins along with pickles and ice cream, anyone can predict the customer is pregnant.  Only kidding.  No, the interesting thing is that the program can predict which customers are pregnant even if they don't know it yet or they do know it but haven't told anyone yet.  Fascinating.

Anyway, some takeaways from this book:

• The Habit Loop
• Cue leads to routine, routine leads to reward. the reward sends us back to the cue
• This is how new habits are created: by putting together a cue, a routine, and a reward, and then cultivating a craving that drives the loop.
• Take email- when a computer chimes or a smartphone vibrates with a new message, the brain starts anticipating the momentary distraction that opening an email provides. 
• Anyone can use this basic formula to create habits of his or her own.  Want to exercise more?  Choose a cue, such as going to the gym as soon as you wake up, and a reward, such as a smoothie after each workout.  Then think about that smoothie, or about the endorphin rush you’ll feel.  Allow yourself to anticipate the reward.  Eventually, that craving will make it easier to push through the gym doors every day.
• Cravings are what drive habits.  And figuring out how to spark a craving makes creating a new habit easier.
• If you use the same cue, and provide the same reward, you can shift the routine and change the habit.  Almost any behavior can be transformed if the cue and the reward stay the same.
• Willpower isn’t just a skill.  It’s a muscle, like the muscle in your arms or legs, and it gets tired as it works harder, so there’s less power left over for other things.
• A habit is a formula our brain automatically follows: when I see cue, I will do routine in order to get a reward.       

Failing is Part of Developing the Habit

Nice little piece from Don Miller.

You could add exercising, developing a quiet time, or any other worthwhile habit to what he's saying here.  

Forty Cents

My son and I were at DQ the other day taking advantage of BOGO blizzards (though not for me, as the Lenten sweets fast continues) when I caught eyes with someone walking outside.  He then came in, made some small talk, and asked if I could spare forty cents.

$.40

Of course, I said and gave him some pocket change.  Enough to help him get a burger.

Point isn't to put me on a pedestal because a) it was only forty cents and b) if I am honest, I usually say "no" to such requests.  Most training I've received on assisting the under-resourced always advocates saying "no" in this situation.  The training is well-intended.  You don't know where it's going.  You don't want to enable.  You don't know how many other people have been asked for forty cents already today.  And the reasons- good reasons- go on and on.

And while the reasons are good, and I'll continue to use them, sometimes you go with your gut.  As someone who's never been in a position to ask another human being for forty cents (unless you count the junior high lunch line and not having enough change for ice cream), I can't imagine what that's like.  To be in the position where you are forty cents away from eating.

Judging a Good Decision

A few meetings recently reminded me of this post

Orphan Justice

Had the privilege of attending this meeting yesterday  . . .

Say Yes to the Fundraiser

My wife is a very generous person.  Loves to give gifts.  Loves to support friends' kids, neighbor kids, and other kids with their various fundraising initiatives.

Me?  Not so much.

I'm thankful I learned the discipline of tithing and giving at an early age, but I still have harder time than she does with spontaneous giving.

A few weeks ago a couple middle school aged boys from the neighborhood came to my door.  They were raising funds for their wrestling club.  Jerseys, equipment, that kind of thing.  I listened to their pitch, and since I didn't know them nor had a passion for wrestling, I said no.  They were disappointed, but thanked me for my time, and went to the next house.

I normally have no problem saying no something like that.  Because, I didn't even know them!  That's short-term thinking.

Later on though, I had some long-term thoughts.  These boys were middle school boys in my neighborhood. An activity such as wrestling teaches them sportsmanship, hard work, and discipline.  Belonging to a team gives them a group to be part of and a common goal to work towards.  Being part of an extra-curricular activity such as wrestling gives the boys a better chance of achieving better grades and staying out of trouble (like egging the homes of people who didn't give to the wrestling club!).  That's long-term thinking.

Obviously, we're not able to or supposed to support everything.  I know too often in my thinking my default is 'no'.

I wish I could go back and give to those boys, but truth is, I haven't seen them since.  But, when the opportunity comes again, I'll say yes to the fundraiser.

Thank You for the Email

One of the best classes I took for my business degree was Business Communication.  The whole point of the class was to draft memos (I know, using the word 'memo' dates be a bit), letters and other business correspondence.  Our professor would drill us on all kinds of communication- responding to letters from angry customers, memos where you have to give employees bad news, and letters you would send to vendors or suppliers with whom you had a dispute over a price or damaged product.  It was a great class, and even though email has replaced memos and letters, I still use the skills learned in class every day.

Out all of the things I gained from this class, none has been as important as starting most (if not all) communication with the words "Thank you".  Now it's easy to thank a raving fan for her note of appreciation, but what do you with do the customer who wants to bite your head off?  How do you thank him for that?!  By thanking him for the communication.  Our prof would say here you have a real customer, someone who has taken the time to write you, and while you may not agree with the contents of the communication, you thank the person for the communication.

Staring at a difficult email or a critical letter?  Start with thank you.

Top February Posts

In case you missed em, here's top 3 posts from February:

• What does the Average Family Give?
• It's Magic!
• Mark Cuban and the Future of College

Return Your Messages

"Thank you so much Brian,  I truly appreciate it!"

That was the email I got from someone I did not know asking a request I was not able to help with.  You would think, though, judging by her reply that I had helped solved her problem.  I didn't.  I simply took the time to reply to her email.  I wonder how many emails she had sent with her request and how many went unreturned- not even bothering to give her the courtesy of a reply.

The lesson is simple- return your messages- whether it's email, text, or Facebook.

And while my email inflow is relatively small compared to others, the reason people send you email (outside of spam or reply all is for a response).  So if you're so big or busy to respond, you either need to outsource responding or not receive messages.  

Does Testing God Lead to More Tests?

Recently read the story of Gideon from Judges 6 (and following).  Always a good read.  One of the more well-known parts of the story is Gideon's testing of God with the wet and dry fleeces.  What I found interesting this time through the story was noticing God's testing of Gideon (by lowering his army from over 10,000 soldiers to a mere 300) followed Gideon's testing of God with the fleece.

From a casual reading of the text, God isn't upset with Gideon over the test of the fleece.  I think God can handle our testing.  But I wonder what happens if Gideon simply obeys and skips the whole wet and dry fleece event.  Does God still narrow the army?  Or does the story change somewhat because Gideon obeyed right away instead of needing proof before continuing with obedience?

Referring Church Shoppers

We often get calls- I'd say several a month- asking if our church has a certain children's program or uses a certain version of the Scriptures.  Most of these calls are sincere- they're not looking to pick a fight and are genuinely seeking a church that has what they are looking for.

Nothing wrong with that at all.

And so I have two possible responses with these callers- I can simply say 'no' and then end the call.  Or, I can say no and then refer the caller to churches that do offer the specific program or use the certain version of the Scriptures.

I most always choose to refer the caller to churches I know who offer what they are looking for.  The caller is almost always pleasantly surprised and thankful for the referral.

In churches, and is in almost any other place in life, there's a tendency to get territorial and competitive.  And there have been times in the past when I have felt territorial or competitive so I had a different response to those calls.  I would either try to a) convince the caller that what we offered as a church was as good if not superior to what they were looking for or b) argue with the caller (especially with the caller looking for a certain version of the Scriptures).

Both responses were non-productive to say the least.  While trying to sell your stuff or picking a theological fight may make one feel good in the short term, the best long term strategy is to simply be helpful.