Giants Shall Fall

Three years ago today I wrote the following on my blog…

Love

Had to check in. I’m sitting in a room with computers on the 6th floor of a very fine hotel in downtown Chicago at 10pm on a Sunday night. I’m reading the hurt pouring out from those I love on a stupid website. For those and anyone else out there that may be feeling the same things, I just wanted to let you know that I love you and am personally praying for you and your families. Please feel free to call or email me anytime.

Three years ago today my dad stepped down as minister of the Tecumseh Church of Christ after 15 years of service.

I had to be in Chicago for work that day, but I knew it was coming. I sat lonely in a hotel room looking at messages of hurting people posted on a website and had no idea what the future held for me, for my parents, or for my walk with God.

This wasn’t an amicable breakup by any means. This was your typical church split due to differing directions of vision. It was the tipping point of many years of struggle. People were hurt and relationships were broken, but it was the beginning of my journey for Truth.

My personal relationship with God had finally started taking shape when this happened. I had recently started attending a men’s group regularly and we had been praying for God to make the changes necessary for us to make a difference in our community. We sure didn’t have this in mind though.

A couple months later I did find peace with the decision, and a bunch of us started a new church with a fresh vision. Above all my relationship with God greatly benefited. Many of those broken relationships have since healed, but it hasn’t been all smooth sailing to say the least. We are still dealing with humans here, but I can easily say that I have grown tremendously in those three years.

It feels like a lifetime ago when dad preached his last sermon about slaying giants, but it’s still applicable today. I continue to face giants on a daily basis, but as long as I put my trust in God that he will, in fact, make all things work for the good of those who are called according to his purpose, I’m good to go!

Filed under: Church, Faith, Giants, God, Life, Love, Pain, Relationships, Religion, Trust, Vision

The Forces of Mediocrity

(From one of my favorite bloggers, Seth Godin.)

Maybe it should be, “the forces for mediocrity”…

There’s a myth that all you need to do is outline your vision and prove it’s right—then, quite suddenly, people will line up and support you.

In fact, the opposite is true. Remarkable visions and genuine insight are always met with resistance. And when you start to make progress, your efforts are met with even more resistance. Products, services, career paths… whatever it is, the forces for mediocrity will align to stop you, forgiving no errors and never backing down until it’s over.

If it were any other way, it would be easy. And if it were any other way, everyone would do it and your work would ultimately be devalued. The yin and yang are clear: without people pushing against your quest to do something worth talking about, it’s unlikely it would be worth the journey. Persist.

“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.” —Albert Einstein

Filed under: Albert Einstein, Mediocrity, Progress, Quotes, Seth Godin, Vision, Visionaries

Innovation Adoption Curve

The innovation adoption curve of Rogers is a model that classifies adopters of innovations into various categories. It is based on the idea that certain individuals are inevitably more open for adaption than others. It is also called: Multi-Step Flow Theory or Diffusion of Innovations Theory. (more…)

Innovators. Brave people, pulling the change. Innovators are very important communication mechanisms.

Early Adopters. Respectable people, opinion leaders, try out new ideas, but in a careful way.

Early Majority. Thoughful people, careful but accept change more quickly than average people do.

Late Majority. Skeptic people, will use new ideas or products only when the majority is using it.

Laggards. Traditional people, love to stick to the “old ways”, are critical about new ideas and will only accept it if the new idea has become mainstream or even tradition.

(ht: Eric Bryant)

Filed under: Change, Communication, Innovation, Leadership, Vision

2007 – The Year That Is To Come

Because I’m such a legalist at heart, the new year brings me so much pleasure. Having real, concrete, starting points always makes things easier for me. Many times I put off something that I really need to do until the start of a new month, or year, simply because it’s a cleaner starting point for me. I know, I’m very strange.

But now that it’s here, the fresh outlook of a new year, I feel so refreshed and ready to go. It’s as though I’ve successfully gone through detox and am ready to be released. So many ambitions are before me. Just the fact that all my vacation time has been re-issued is enough for me to rejoice! I would be silly not to lay out a few tangible items to work on for the new year, so here are a few things on my mind for 2007.

SPIRITUAL
» Read Through the New Testament – Never done that systematically before. Actually, I intend to read through it twice this year.

» Daily Devotional – I have a really nice hardback journal version of ‘My Utmost For His Highest‘ and am really looking forward to what’s in store.

» Pray More – More in the mornings. More in the afternoon. More before meals. More with my family…

» More Active & Vocal About My Faith – Theoretical theology just isn’t cutting it for me anymore.

PERSONAL
» Diet & Exercise – Cliché I know, but I’ve really been undisciplined in recent years.

» Read More Books – Not just more in quantity, but more varieties of books. Two high on my list that are outside my norm are Freakonomics and Audacity of Hope.

» Develop Relationships – I need to get better at being willing to “get dirty” so to speak in my relationships. (That looks funny after I look at it, but I’m standing by that statement).

» Less Selfish – In most areas of my life I am extremely self-centered. I’d like to break that habit.

» Better Family Man – Better husband, father, son and brother.

BLOG
» Better Writing – No more slapped together posts. I’m going to take a little extra time to ensure better writing. However, there will always be room for improvement,.

» More Creativity – I’m a designer by trade and sometimes I wonder if anyone would ever know it by this blog. I need to do a better job creatively in writing and creatively in aesthetics.

» Chase More Rabbits – Explore deeper into things that interest me.

» More Originality – More out in front blogging and less of what everyone else is posting on or saying. Not that I’ll stop that altogether though, that’s what blogs are made for.

» More Raw – I tend to hold back on certain topics and opinions so as not to offend anyone. Be prepared to be offended.

» Hosted Site – I need to get this blog 100% hosted, which will involve me increasing my web knowledge by a huge margin.

After watching Rocky Balboa last week, my brother was inspired enough to want to accomplish something great before he’s 30. Between that and what the pastor had to say Sunday, I too was inspired to “accomplish something.” I’ve been making excuses for too long on something, the time for action is now. I hope to look back on this post next January and see the beginning stage of something that will have drastically change my life. You’ll just have to wait to see what it is.

Filed under: 2007, Goals, Vision