2) Favorite Movie Poster: Dumb and Dumbledore

3) Favorite Facts: Amazing Facts that will blow your mind

4) Favorite Dog: This guy (and this one)

5) Favorite Quote: CS Lewis

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 Remind yourself that you’re small everyday.

 This might sound self-defeating, but it’s not at all. Being small doesn’t mean insignificant, it just means living in the reality that you are one tiny part of a much greater whole.

So how do you remind yourself that you’re small?

We’ll get to that in just a second. But first, let’s chat about how we fool ourselves into thinking that we’re big.

We drift toward self-centeredness. “How could that car cut me off?” “Why won’t they call me back?” “I can’t believe McDonalds messed up my order.” (really? They mess my order up 75% of the time)

Additionally, there is technology that can make it feel like the world revolves around us.

Emails.

Twitter followers.

Facebook and Instagram likes.

Blog stats.

More emails.

None of these things are inherently wrong, but for many, checking email or social media is more of an obsession than a means for connection.

Every day we fool ourselves into thinking we’re big, which is why we need to remind ourselves every day that we’re small.

We didn’t create ourselves. We didn’t decide when or where we’d be born. We don’t decide when we die.

So practically speaking, how do you do this?

My daily reminder happens every night when I take my dog Macy for a run. After my daughter is off to sleep, I jog over to the local school track. Running in that large open space, one can’t help but feel small in comparison to the vast sky and the great light of the moon.

No matter what happened during the day, looking up at the stars puts things back in perspective.

Michael Hyatt, world class blogger/author, described that he takes 15 minutes of silence every day. He inspired me to start as well (I recommend setting a timer and turning your phone off so there’s no chance of distraction). This has proved to be another great way of clearing distractions and reflecting on what’s most important in life.

These words of the psalmist are particularly appropriate.

“When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?”

How do you remind yourself that you’re small? I’d love to hear your real-life examples in the comments below. 

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First off, I highly recommend this movie. It’s a fun ride, with an incredible villain and one of the most gripping climaxes I’ve seen. I won’t discuss it here, but the film has some great things to say about leadership. JJ Abrams (the director) does an incredible job of actually creating meaningful characters and surrounding them with incredible action. We need more films like this – where characters drive the story instead of special effects.

And while most people don’t expect deep philosophical themes to appear in action flicks, I believe the newest Star Trek has done this very well. It asks a very important question: Is it morally right to do evil in order to overcome evil?

3 Different Answers

The responsibility to answer these questions is given to the different leaders in the film, and each one answers the question differently. One chooses the path of vengeance. Another chooses to do whatever it takes to earn victory, even if it means giving up the very thing he fights for. The third chooses to do what is right, and it costs him everything.

Instead of ruining the film for people who haven’t seen it, we’ll discuss the Biblical message that surrounds this question. The Israelites lived at the center of their modern world. For centuries they faced enemies, many who were more wicked than we can imagine.

The Biblical Answer

Sometimes, the Israelites would trust in the Lord when trouble came. Other times, however, they attempted to make deals with their neighbors like the Egyptians or the Assyrians. Here is how God responded to this notion in Isaiah 31:1-2 -

“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!”

At our core, many of us hold to an untrue belief. If we did not have this belief, we would never need to ask if it is morally right to overcome evil with evil.

What is that wrong belief?

We think that evil is more powerful than good. We even believe that the powers of evil are greater than God.

If we did not hold this belief, we would never be tempted to fight evil with evil. We would never seek to join forces with “Egypt,” but instead we would always seek after the Lord.

At first glance, evil can seem more powerful than good. Evil is savage, self-centered, and takes everything it can. The ultimate example of good, however, is a beaten man humbled on a cross.

Is evil more powerful than good?

And yet, Christ’s act of sacrifice was the most powerful event in history. Billions of lives were saved and changed for the better. Christ proved the true power of good by conquering the grave, not only for himself, but also for all who believe in him.

While evil may look more powerful on the outside, it cannot hold a candle to the power of righteousness. Walking righteously often requires personal sacrifice of varying degrees, but as Jesus himself said in Matthew 16:26, “what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

Back to Reality

Few, if any of us, will make decisions that could cost hundreds, if not thousands of lives. The people in Star Trek and the Bible did not always ask to make those decisions, however, so you never know when you will be faced with one.

More likely, however, you will meet people in the business world who lack integrity and cheat their way to the top. You must ask yourself, “do I deal with such a colleague by doing what is right? Or is it OK to cheat myself to keep him or her from winning?”

Or perhaps you will vote for someone – will you put someone in power who is defined by integrity? Or vote for someone who cuts corners? Perhaps you play sports and you want to be a starter, but you compete with someone who uses steroids. Does it make it ok to level the playing field by taking them as well?

When we face those who do wrong, we must remember who holds the ultimate power in the universe. While evil will win some battles, the war has already been won by God. It is not always easy to do what is right, in fact it can be downright costly, but it is always worth it. Because in the end, we’ll be on the winning team.

Have you or will you see Star Trek Into Darkness? What do you think?

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2) Favorite Parents: These 24 people (the first is below…)

3) Favorite Experiment: Capuchin monkeys reject unequal pay

4) Favorite Beard: This guy

5) Favorite Car Chase: Ducks fly together

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This call to “change the way you think” happens with our active choice to surrender to the wisdom and presence of the Holy Spirit. He is the one that enables us to live with a new perspective.

To capture the active choice we have in the matter, consider it like this. Every new morning that God wakes us up, the first thing we need to do is reach over to our nightstand and put on our hypothetical glasses. If you actually wear real glasses you have a slight advantage. For those with 20-20 vision, you can either use your imagination or go buy some fake, hipster glasses. I like the hipster option myself.

I call these our “redemption glasses” because we see everything with the possibility and potential for redemption. In putting on these glasses, we choose to rely on the Holy Spirit and live with the mind of Christ. We choose to live each day with a perspective bent toward redemption because we know this is our ultimate future (New Heaven New Earth!) and we believe God is a redeemer. We live with a conviction that God wants to redeem the brokenness in our lives and the lives of others we encounter.

Wearing these redemption glasses, we see the messes in life as opportunity for the love of God to transform. We view weakness and insecurity as areas of potential strength through the transforming power of God. We look at the injustices in the world and believe God can bring redemption through the lives of his people.

Forgive me for the incredibly simple analogy, but I like simple. Are you looking at life through the lens of redemption? Can you see a hope and a future? Without the presence and help of God’s Spirit, I’ve never been successful at this. However, with an active choice to lean on God’s Spirit, our perspective is made new. Wear your redemption glasses.

Where are you looking for God’s redemption to break in?

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At first glance, Paul’s words may seem like common sense, but Christians have struggled with this call for centuries. As a group, believers (or those claiming to believe in Jesus), have had some rather explosive relationships. For instance, there is a long history of war in conflict between Christians and Muslims.

A second and rather prevalent example over the last decade is the relationship between Christians and homosexuals. Christians have not always spoken graciously to homosexuals, and there is a lot of hurt and angst between the groups, with millions of people caught in the middle, not sure what to think.

The Future:

The Biblical mandate that we respect those we disagree with is rather unique in this world, and as we move into the future it becomes even more important that we follow it. Communication reaches faster and further now than ever before, and our words can have a global impact in seconds.

We must be humble in our approach, seek the Lord’s wisdom with every word we speak, and seek to draw non-Christians into the family of God, rather than push them away.

I think the most fascinating aspect of the above Colossians verse is that he calls our speech to be “seasoned” with salt. This is an important and distinct word choice.

Seasoned vs. Shoving

Sometimes I think we, as Christians, feel like the only thing we should talk about with non-believers is our faith. If you have ever met someone who said, “I hate it when Christians shove the Bible down my throat,” odds are they encountered someone who tried a little too hard.

Salt tastes great on most things we eat. In Biblical times salt preserved food, and it also offered flavor.

However, you would never feed someone only salt. It would taste awful and even make them sick. Instead, you would sprinkle the salt over their entire meal.

Interestingly, it takes very little salt before it becomes unnoticeable in your food.

Likewise, I believe Paul is challenging us to season our speech with non-believers in the same way. We are meant to talk to them about more than just our faith. If we only spoke about God, it would be like feeding them a block of salt instead of decent food. That’s not very appetizing.

Instead, we should actually live life alongside them and build relationships. Discuss their hurts and their triumphs, their favorite sports and hobbies, talk about work and family. 

Remember, we only need to season our speech with it to make it noticeable. Grace should affect everything we do, and like salt it should be unmissable. In other words, this isn’t an excuse to never share the gospel with those we care about. But it does mean the Gospel should add flavor and preserve relationships, not ruin them.

This doesn’t mean you must agree with everyone either. Our culture has bought into the lie that if you do not agree with someone, you don’t love them. This couldn’t be further from the truth, of course. Disagreeing with someone’s cocaine habit is significantly more loving than encouraging them to keep doing drugs.

But this does mean you disagree in a respectful and gracious way. This is not always easy, and it requires constant wisdom and care. Sometimes people will reject you no matter how gracious your words, but we are called to speak truth and love regardless of how it is accepted.

An excellent example of a life well seasoned

Daniel is a great example of this. He was a young Jewish man living in a culture that encouraged every behavior he believed was wrong. He could have condemned the people around him, he could have started fights and been a pest at every turn.

But instead, Daniel and his friends chose to honor those in authority. They never broke God’s law, often to their own detriment. And when they disagreed with the King or his men they did it with “wisdom and tact.” Even in Daniel 4, when Daniel realizes the King is about to face God’s judgment, Daniel shows incredible compassion.

He could have said, “serves you right for forcing us out of Jerusalem you pagan!” But instead he said, “My lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies!”

How was Daniel able to speak with wisdom and tact to the people he often disagreed with? Three reasons: First, he lived in relationship with God. It wasn’t about following rules for Daniel, it was about loving and experiencing God’s love. When we know the love of God, it becomes much more natural to love others.

Secondly, he prayed that God would guide his words. Each time he went before the king, Daniel and his friends prayed for the Lord’s strength and guidance.

Lastly, he actually loved, respected, and cared about the king.

Adopting a well seasoned life

If we hope to speak with wisdom to those we disagree with, if we want to live graciously and have words seasoned with salt, like Daniel we also must do three things.

We must live in relationship with God, we must pray, and we must actually learn to love people. People are not projects for us to make better, they are humans who need the grace of God just as much as we do.

Our culture is at a turning point. It will be easier to point fingers and call people names. It will be easier to take sides and play the blame game. But God calls us to be gracious to everyone, and if we hope to experience greater peace in our lifetime, we must learn to do so.

Who in your life could use some salt?

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2) Favorite Mother’s Day Message: Kid President

3) Favorite Food Testing: Kid’s taste strange foods in slow motion

4) Favorite photos: 50 Most Perfectly timed photos ever here is an example of 1 of them:

5) Favorite Compilation: Positive compilation of Russian dash cams

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However, it did resonate with a number of readers, and spurred on some great conversation. My basic premise was simple.

“No matter how certain you are that God inspired your dream, you have to hand it back to him. Without this kind of surrender, our dream becomes the thing we hope and long for, while God slips to the background.”

In today’s part 2, the question to answer is “So what comes after the surrender of our dream?” For this, I’m assuming you’ve wrestled with your own selfish ambitions and begun to delight in God rather than delighting in your dream. (which is a huge assumption!)

So what’s next?

3 things, and lucky for you, they all start with the letter “P”

1. Patience

“Why wouldn’t God want to make this happen for me? I’m doing it for Him!” I asked this plenty of times as I watched my own plans get delayed. No one likes to be patient, but if you want to live out your God-given dream, you will accept the gift of patience as a valuable part of life. You will trust that while you wait on God, He is refining your own heart to handle the future success and/or fullness that is on the horizon. Be patient. Trust God and his timing.

2. Perseverance

If you’re like me, then you can look at the hardest seasons of your life and find that the best seasons usually followed soon after. If you are going to accomplish your dream, you must persevere through trials and cling to God as the only unshakeable foundation to stand on. Just because things get hard doesn’t mean God is calling you to stop pursuing the dream. In fact, it is often a good indicator that you need to keep going!

3. Peace

This is what you can expect if you choose to be patient and persevere through the challenges of chasing your God-given dream. Paul said it like this, “I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation…For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Paul tapped into a level of peace that went beyond any situation or circumstance. He found the secret. He had the peace that passes understanding. This contentment is supernatural. If you want it, you can have it. But you will have to learn it through patience and perseverance.

Finally, I want to leave you with a well-known proverb in the Bible:

“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” (prov. 16:9)

If we are truly following Jesus, then I believe we can trust that God’s heart is to bring our plans and dreams to fruition. It might not look exactly how we envision it, but in many cases it could. However, I’d argue that the road to get there will certainly be different than we planned.

The question is “Will you continue toward your God-given dream, with patience and perseverance, even when the steps to get there are different than you imagined?

I hope you will! The world needs the light you will shine living out your God-given dream!

-How have you had to be patient in order to achieve a goal or dream?

-What are you persevering through to see the bigger plans come to fruition? 

We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below – thanks!

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College students are the most experiential people on the planet, which reflects their own developmental stage of life. They fill the streets for political demonstrations, spark racy debates, travel from hostel to hostel, and rush the field to tear down goal posts.

In regards to the church, it should be no surprise that many of the most passionate Christians are college students. The energy they contribute to the faith community is amazing. They often cry out for revival, and they experience God’s presence and work in powerful ways as they seek Him.

This last January, there was a record crowd of over 50,000 college students packed into the Georgia Dome at the Passion Conference to lift up the name of Jesus together. Throughout this conference, various Christian leaders addressed these young adults, inspiring them to follow Jesus and change the world.

On a much smaller scale, we as youth pastors do the same thing at our churches. We cast big vision for our students, proclaiming that they will change the world in Jesus’ name. We say things like, “Your generation is going to be different.” “God is doing something in your generation.” “Revival is going to come through your generation!”

There’s nothing wrong with these declarations. We speak in these ways to our young people all the time, and we truly believe it. However, I do wonder if sometimes we are so busy praising the current students for how great they “will be” that we forget to look at the actual impact of those who have gone before them…continue to full post

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Our culture is obsessed with leadership, evidenced by the countless books that fill our bookstores on the subject. There are too many leadership theories and techniques to keep up with. We could talk about it for the next 6 months and hardly scratch the surface.

Instead of that, I’d like to offer a 1-Question Test to determine whether you are a good leader or not. Ready? Here it is.

1. Are you more positive than negative? (yes) or (no)

It’s such a simple question. Do you see the world through a positive lens, or a negative one? What would your family say? Co-workers? Friends?

Here’s the bottom line: If you are a negative person, you’ll never be a good leader. Period. 

Am I saying great leaders sugarcoat everything, ignoring the problems of life? Of course not. Great leadership is not about overlooking the difficulties at hand. It’s about the attitude you possess in the face of those realities.

Can you look at tough circumstances and remain positive? Can you see the possibility for a better outcome? Do you envision a redemptive future ahead?

Great leaders are uncommonly optimistic. Even in hard times, they believe good will come. Their positivity literally changes the attitudes of those around them, especially when times are tough. Great leaders look at present circumstances through a positive lens, and this leads to casting a positive vision for the future.

Great leaders also show their positivity in the way they celebrate. They see every success, no matter how big or small, as an opportunity to celebrate. By doing this, they inspire more of the same wins in the future. As my pastor Buddy Hoffman says, “you cultivate what you celebrate.

Is there hope if you’re naturally more negative? (or “realistic” as we often put it)

YES. There’s hope for you (and me) because positivity can be learned. Anyone can become more positive. It comes down to 2 things: perspective and practice.

Perspective

Not surprisingly, the way to become more positive is to believe the positive perspectives of life. Believe that God works all things together for good (Romans 8:28). Believe that all your weaknesses are in fact opportunities for God’s strength to transform (1 Cor.1:27-28). Following this thinking, even our pesky nature toward negativity is potential for God’s power to come and change us.

Practice

Just like anything else, you have to practice being more positive. This might seem shallow, but you need to start saying positive things, even if it goes against your nature. Start small. Insist that the upcoming event you’re attending will be great. Assume the conflict will be resolved. Declare positive things about the people you’re around. Celebrate the good things in your life and the lives of the world around you.

Forgive me for simplifying such a complex subject like leadership. I know there’s much more to it. However, I don’t know if there’s anything more foundational. Want to be a great leader? Start with your positive attitude. It makes all the difference in the world.

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