Seven long years had passed under the mighty hand of the oppressor. He sat there, desolate. The pangs of hunger had left him some time ago as he seemed destined to simply waste away.
He had worked so hard. Planting. Watering. Growing. And Waiting.
And just as the fruit of his labor was about to be enjoyed, the oppressor swooped in and took it away. So here he sat, in total poverty. Read more
As I sit comfortably on my couch, in my completely quiet house, while my babies take a nap, there are mobs of angry people in a town called Charlottesville who are carrying torches, yelling and screaming, and running over people with cars. Read more
What comes to mind when you think about meditation? Some of our minds may go to a Buddhist monk, high on a mountain in far away Asia. Others may think of a Catholic nun or a priest in a dark, candle lit room. Or perhaps we think of a Yoga instructor and their millennial students in a candle-scented studio downtown. Read more
Her eyes slowly opened. And for one small moment, her thoughts focused simply on noticing her ceiling. Then she felt it. A dry trail of tears from the long night stuck tightly to her temples and ended in her ears. And suddenly, the invasion of sorrow seeped into her heart again. Her mother was gone.
He woke to the muffled sounds of his children playing in the other room. As he listened to the thumping of feet and to their innocent, virgin laughter, his thoughts drifted to the empty refrigerator. He knew at any moment, his kids would burst into the room, asking what was for breakfast. And he wasn’t quite sure yet what he would say. He always seemed to be able to scrap something together for them. But then, what about lunch? His bank account was in the negative. And his manhood was gone. Read more
When I was a teenager, I loved to study theology. I was determined to figure out the right position on every topic. By the time I had graduated from college and moved out to Denver, CO to help start a church, my theology had drastically changed from my teenage years. I believed that I had finally found the right position on virtually every theological topic. Read more
“Instead of achieving linear growth by adding new resources, you can more efficiently extract the capability of your people and watch growth skyrocket. Leaders rooted in the logic of multiplication believe:
• Most people in organizations are underutilized.
• All capability can be leveraged with the right kind of leadership.
• Therefore, intelligence and capability can be multiplied without requiring a bigger investment.”
—Liz Wiseman, Multipliers, p. 29
In Genesis 1:28, God gives us the cultural mandate to “Be fruitful and multiply.” I love how the picture of a father and mother multiplying themselves in sons and daughters ultimately points us to our spiritual calling. Read more
In our last article, we introduced how we use a progression of steps that build on one another in order to pursue our Why.
Today, I’d like to share another thought by Gary Keller, in his book The One Thing. It’s the concept of Focus.
Mark Twain once said, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.” Read more
Those who know me best know that I am a huge Denver Broncos fan. And for those who know the NFL, you know that the Broncos just hired a new coaching staff this offseason. Having a whole new coaching staff, combined with extremely inexperienced quarterbacks, means that there is a lot of building that needs to take place this offseason.
One important part of building a strong, cohesive team is to strategically plan your path in sequence. Fundamentals of footwork and throwing mechanics come before executing a fully developed game plan on Sunday. There is a logical sequence of team building that happens over time. Read more
Have you ever found yourself doing something and wondered, “Why am I even doing this?” Or “Why am I doing it this way?”
I own a cleaning company. And there have been many times over the past 15 years that I have found myself, hovered over and scrubbing a toilet, and wondering, “Why am I doing this?”
If my entire purpose ends with that toilet, then my life would stink, pun intended. But if I see how that toilet fits in with the bigger picture of my ultimate vision, then suddenly I have inspiration to clean. Read more
One of the most influential people I have enjoyed learning from is Simon Sinek. He began to grow in popularity with a Ted Talk he did called “Start with Why”, in which he says that the most effective leaders move from the inside out. He says that, rather than starting with what we do, we should start with why we do it, then how we pursue our value, and finally what we do. Read more