J.R. Briggs
Attempting to behold the miracle long enough without falling asleep
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the one string we have: attitude
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circustmances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home.
The remarkable thing is that we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. the only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.”
-Charles Swindoll
[ 10 ] Links that will change your life
Here are [ 10 ] links that will change your life. Or at least get close.
[1] Luis von Ahn gives a TED talk on massive-scale online collaboration. This is worth your time. (P.S. von Ahn invented something you use just about every month online).
[2] Harvard re-invents their MBA program, making it more hands-on and experiential. A good (but risky) move, considering it’s $84,000 a year for this program.
[3] Unbelievable story: paralympian un-paralyzed during crash, forced to retire from paralympics immediately.
[4] Five must-read books on the Psychology of Being Wrong. Great link (especially as we plan for the Epic Fail Pastors Conference in March of next year. By the way, are you coming?)
[5] 5 reasons to use your bound Bible & not your smartphone in church. (As a preacher, I agree especially with #2).
[6] Advent Daily devotional readings: I frequent this website more than any other thus far during Advent.
[7] John Stott’s daily prayer. This is a gem.
[8] Have a new product or business and don’t know what to call it? Check out this company that will help you give it a name. (Great idea).
[9] In case you missed it, the greatest college basketball tradition happened (and it happened at my alma mater Taylor University). It’s called “Silent Night” – the entire school shows up for the event in pajamas and other crazy outfits and remains completely silent until the 10th point is scored – then the place goes nuts. It’s awesome. (Although, this college gets runner-up. It’s called the “Best Technical Foul in Basketball” – the first basket of each season. Not too shabby).
[10] For all you Moleskine fans out there, this is pretty awesome.
Advent distraction
I saw this image on David Fitch’s blog last year and haven’t forgotten it. I believe this was in front of a church in the suburbs of Chicago. It’s striking and quite challenging, isn’t it? [click to enlarge]
Insuring Picasso
I have a friend who owns a packaging store that ships items to people all over the world. Each time I see him I like to ask, “So, what interesting items did you ship this week?” Sometimes, he tells me, its an urn that needs to be shipped to Southern India by next week. Or a letter signed by Ben Franklin officially pardoning a twelve year old boy. Or a tiny cowboy statue sold at auction for $8,ooo. I tell him he runs a museum that has very temporary artifacts, with the exhibits changing daily.
A few weeks go I asked him what interesting item he was shipping that week. He told me the craziest story:
Someone had purchased an original Picasso painting at auction for $70,000 and needed it shipped to New York City. My friend asked him about insuring the delivery of this irreplaceable painting. “You want insurance on this, right?” The man asked for the price and my friend mentioned it would run about $1,000 to ship it insured.
“How much if I just send the painting regular shipping with no insurance?” he asked.
“A hundred dollars.”
“I don’t want to spend the extra 900 bucks. That’s a lot of money. Just go ahead and send it in a cardboard box.”
As difficult as it was, my friend shipped it as the customer desired: in a simple cardboard box.
I was stunned as he told me this story. Think of it: an expensive (and irreplaceable!) Picasso original piece of art sent to New York City in a simple cardboard box, all because the owner didn’t want to spend a few more dollars after he had just purchased it for $70,000! Without insuring that it arrives safely, the painting risks damage, which would immediately lose its value. Can you imagine if you opened up the box in New York City and saw a gaping hole in the canvas?
For pastors and Christian leaders, whose lives are invested in the lives of other people, our hearts are essential in our callings. I’ve told people that the heart of a pastor is as crucial to them as the pitching arm of a pitcher in the big leagues. If a pitcher has a severe injury to his arm, it can easily force him to retire from the sport. If our hearts go, we end up out of ministry.
The Proverbs writes: “Guard your heart, for it is the well spring of life.”
Pastors and leaders: how are you insuring your Picasso?
The [ X ] factor: the Holy Spirit
Preface: I’m not a big fan of equations. I didn’t do well in math growing up – sometimes I have trouble spelling the word math. I tremble at the thought of helping my boys with their geometry homework in a few years. And especially as a pastor, I hesitate to use equations because people are people. We’re complex and unique and have the opportunity to make decisions on our own.With that being said, I trust you’ll see the underlying principle in this equation and how it goes well beyond a formulaic, plastic and predictable response with people.
I shared an equation with our leaders a few weeks ago that led to an engaging discussion about what discipleship could look like in our faith community moving forward. I learned this equation during my life coaching training and it has stuck with me – and is worth sharing here.
I wrote this on the white board at our meeting with our Leadership Community:
HS x ( D + A + R ) = T
The Holy Spirit x ( Discovery + Action + Reinforcement ) = Transformation
True inward transformation happens when there is discovery (i.e. learning), which leads to actions, which is met with reinforcement (especially with others, hence the importance of the body of Christ).
Sadly, many people think that is the end of it. How often we forget that true transformation happens when discovery and action and reinforcement intersects with a cooperative relationship with the Holy Spirit.
It’s not by addition, but multiplication. It doesn’t matter how small the D, A and R are – as long as the Holy Spirit is present, it has a powerfully multiplying effect. The Holy Spirit, quite literally, is the X factor. As I was sharing this and asking our leaders to respond to it, Steve (a former math teacher) walked to the white boad. He said that it doesn’t matter how large the D, A and R are, if the Holy Spirit is not present (in a sense, equalling zero) the transformation will always equal zero. Great point.
It reminds me of the words from John 14 that Jesus tells his disciples: “apart from me you can do nothing…”
Look at the equation again.
Do you believe this equation?
Do our lives reflect that we believe this equation to be true?
[ 11 ] ridiculously practical ways to avoid consumerism this season
Every Christmas I’m conflicted. I love it…and I dread it. I’m not a Scrooge. But it is amazingly ironic and pitiful how easily my heart and soul can get wrapped up in the Christmas season for everything — except Christ.I’ve been reflecting on several practical and specific ways together we could make Advent a meaningful experience – different from other Christmas seasons in years past.
1. Be aware of the dominant messages of our culture this time of year. It’s a healthy exercise to reflect on what our cultural norms are during the month of December. They can be really out of whack. A few suggestions: Catch yourself when you think (or say out loud) “Ooh, I want that…” Share the internal tension of consumerism with close friends or family. Question your personal motives aloud. Write down your expectations and ask the tough question of whether those expectations are healthy or not. Maybe consider memorizing Romans 12:1-2.
2. Avoid the mall if at all possible. I’m not the Grinch, I promise. There is something about malls and mall parking lots that have the potential to suck the life and joy out of our souls. It provides unruly stress, cultivates unhealthy expectations and increases inaccurate pressures we place on ourselves. We easily can be overwhelmed by the bombardment of messages we find in every store window. If you do need to go in, write down ahead of time what you are looking for and the price limit you are setting – and then take only that amount of cash with you into the mall, leaving the rest in your wallet or purse in the car (or better yet, at home).
3. Serve. Get out and serve someone. Psychologists have found that one of the best ways to help someone is to encourage them to serve others. But don’t simply serve out of guilt. Do it because it provides a great opportunity to live beyond yourself. In the process, it can help to cultivate a spirit of gratitude and selflessness.
4. Turn the TV off (or minimize the amount of time you spend in front of it). The Christmas movie specials on the tube are heart warming and fun, but its the commercials that can lure us in and send a compelling, but inaccurate message of what is normal. If you do watch a few Christmas movie specials, consider inviting friends and family over to join you, making it a relational event shared with others.
You may also want to try keeping the radio turned off as well. Nothing wrong with those Christmas songs (well…some of them are just awful but that’s for another time) but discipline yourself to create spaces of quiet and calm.
5. Choose to do less, not more. Make wise decisions regarding areas where you will choose to do less this year. This includes time, relationships and money (i.e. you don’t have to bake 12 dozen cookies like last year, you don’t have to attend every Christmas party that you are invited to, you don’t have to buy everyone a gift, you don’t have to send a Christmas card to every single person you know, etc). If you have a few quiet nights at home with little on the schedule it will free up time to spend time with the family or serve or simply reflect. If nothing else, refuse to do more than you did last year.
6. Join the conspiracy. Filling shoeboxes with toys is good, but consider something that requires a bit more commitment. Join with hundreds of other churches around the country in something called the Advent Conspiracy.
7. Read and study the classic Christmas hymns. Studying the rich lyrics of some of the traditional and well-known Christmas hymns (O Come, O Come Emmanuel, Joy to the World, Silent Night, etc) can be a very meaningful way to prepare. Because we know the words and sing them every year, its easy to put them on auto pilot. Take the time to ruminate over the words in extended times of quiet.
8. Participate in the daily Advent readings. It doesn’t take long. You can do it personally or get the entire family involved. Read them before leaving for work in the morning. Or read them together as a family before dinner or before bedtime.
9. Be generous in unique ways. Make gifts rather than buying them. Give presence, not presents. Give time and experiences instead of more stuff.
10. Listen. The Jesuit Community in England produces a fantastic podcast (one of my favorites) called Pray-As-You-Go. It’s a different daily reflective meditation for 8-10 minutes every day. These podcasts can be downloaded easily for free. Search for it in the podcast search bar on iTunes.
11. Remember the poor. In a bad economy, its the poor who feel its crippling effects more than anybody else. Don’t forget them this season.
[ 10 ] links that will change your life
Links for your enjoyment
Ben Sternke talks about persons of peace – and persons of un-peace. (By the way, if you don’t read Ben’s blog regularly, you should).
The Kingdom of God is like… spontaenous pranks of goodness? Charlie Todd presents at TEDx on the shared experience of absurdity. This has me laughing at my desk.
25 Simple Ways to be Missional in your Neighborhood
9 Astonishing Facts about Amazon [Infographic] – these are astounding…
I’ve posted this before, but its so good it’s worth posting again.
Francis Chan warns young pastors
Bob Logan addresses who should be on your team when planting a church.
Where pastors find refreshment: six perspectives (including Dallas Willard and Dan Kimball)
discipleship: the art of making swords
Thinking about discipleship?
Check out this four-minute video: The Art of Sword Making. It features one of the 30 remaining master sword makers in Japan. It’s fascinating. The connection between making disciples and making swords is evident – and the implications are challenging.
Disturb us, O Lord
A prayer by Sir Francis Drake
Disturb us, O Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.Disturb us, O Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.Disturb us, O Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.Amen.
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