I turn 29 today.  It’s almost hard to believe that I’m this old (I know that some of you don’t think that 29 is old, but it is to me…it’s the oldest I’ve ever been!).  I think that when I was younger I never thought I’d live this long because I couldn’t visualize what life would be like at this age.  But, I’m here now.  Thankfully, I’m still alive.  And, I like living.  Life has it’s ups and downs, but I really enjoy living.  And, I hope you do, too.

In honor of my birthday, let’s all take a brief moment to reflect on our lives.  Birthdays are a good time to re-evaluate life and ask some important questions.  So, let’s take a few moments to think about some things (I’ll be writing as if I’m asking the questions to myself… feel free to answer them along with me in your head… or out loud if no one is listening nearby 🙂 ).

Questions About the Past:

• Are you where you thought you’d be 5-10 years ago?
• Did you stop following some hopes and dreams that need to be revisited?
• Did you lose your way along the way?  Do you need to return to the desired path?
• Have you learned major life-lessons along the way?

Questions About the Present:

• Are you content with where you are now?
• Are you doing work that matters?
• Are you following your life’s mission statement and core values?
• Is your life currently pleasing to God?

Questions About the Future:

• Where do you want to be in 1, 5, 10, 20 years?
• What steps do you need to start taking now to get you to where you want to be?
• At the end of your life, how will you view this period of time in your life? (Was it helpful/ necessary/ useless/ wasted/ insignificant/ vital?)
• If you stay on this current path, will you be happy with your legacy at the end of your life?

These are just a few questions to get us thinking, you know?  Obviously, we could have come up with an indefinite list of questions to ask, but the important thing at this point is that we all take a moment to inventory our place in life.  Think about the past, present, and future.  We want to end well so that we can hear the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your Master!” (Matthew 25:23).  So, let’s start planning now for a great future!

And by the way, let’s not wait until my next birthday… the big 3-0 to re-evaluate our lives.  Let’s plan to schedule some regular time to think about where we are and where we want to be.  Okay?

Earlier this week, Steve Jobs, the Wizard behind the curtain at Apple, piped in on the company’s national conference call with investments analysts. Now usually, he doesn’t take part in the call at all. But, for whatever reason, he decided to get on the phone this time for a little rant. “What was the topic of his rant?” you might ask. Well, he was going off about the tablet competitors for the iPad. Now obviously, the iPad is dominating the market right now because the competitor devices are just beginning to hit the market. But even so, Jobs took several minutes to hate on the competition because of its software (Android or RIM instead of iOS) and size (7″ instead of 9.7″).

Well today, the guy in charge over at RIM (They make the Blackberry) responded to Steve Job’s rant. And well, I think he’s on to something here. Here are some of his comments:

For those of us who live outside of Apple’s distortion field, we know that 7″ tablets will actually be a big portion of the market, and we know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience . . . We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple.

You know what?  I think he’s right, Apple is trying to tell us what to think. And, it is getting kind of old…especially when they do it this way.

The bottom line is this: If you want me to buy your product, pitch your product. Don’t dis the competition.

In reality, the TV ads for Apple’s recent iDevices have been great because they demo the product in all it’s splendor. Rants like this though just don’t cut it. C’mon Steve, focus on your company…not the other guy.

For us, the principle is much the same. Instead of worrying about or complaining the other team, family, student, church, or whatever focus instead on getting your product, service, grades, or family in order. It’s a better choice for you to focus on changing the one place where you have the most influence…in yourself. So get to it!

Some of us really look tired all of the time.   Are you one of the tired masses? Dark circles under the eyes.  Trouble focusing.  Dragging from place to place.  Falling asleep at the computer.  Nearly dosing off at red lights.  Getting home at night but not remembering anything about the drive home.  Difficulty remembering the day’s events.  Does any of this sound familiar?  Are you tired of being tired?  I know I am.

Well, studies continue to show that we are more productive when we are well rested.  And yet, many of us think that our schedules are working.  So, what can we do to get more rest so that we can be more productive (get more done)?

Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and one of the busiest guys around, recommends seven action steps for getting more rest.  I’ve included them here for your consideration, along with a few of my own at the bottom.  Read on…

Here’s how I (Michael Hyatt) make sure I get a good night’s sleep:

1. Avoid caffeinated drinks in the evening. When I was younger, I could drink coffee after dinner. No more. I cannot drink caffeine after 4:00 p.m.
2. Eliminate all negative input. I am a worrier by nature. If I watch or talk about anything negative after about 6:00 p.m., I will stew on it all night.
3. Go to bed on time. This is huge. I have to be strict with myself. For me, this means no later than 10:00 p.m., unless it’s a weekend.
4. Make sure the room is dark. We have blinds on the windows that cut out 95 percent of the outside light.
5. Keep the temperature cool. In the winter, we keep it at about 68°. In the summer, about 70°. I sleep more soundly if the room is cool enough to require a blanket.
6. Listen to relaxing music. This doesn’t work for everyone, but I listen to the same exact music every night. It’s become an audio queue that says to my subconscious mind and body, “It’s time to go to sleep now.”
7. Run a fan. The “white noise” mutes outside noise and puts me to sleep. When I am on the road, I loop “Ambient White Noise for Sleep,” which I downloaded from iTunes.

To Michael’s list, I would also like to add a few more action steps:

8. Get a good pillow. Everyone has different tastes here, and that’s okay, but you really need a pillow suited for the way you sleep.  Back, side, and stomach sleepers all need different pillows.  I just got a new pillow from Ikea.  It’s amazing.  You spend a good portion of your day in bed so make sure you have good stuff, and replace it when needed.

9. Get a good bed. Like #8, this one varies person to person, but if you’re bed is saggy in the middle or if you’ve had it since the 3rd grade, it’s probably time for an upgrade.  Like I said earlier, you spend between a quarter and half of your life in bed…get a good one!

10. Get a CPAP machine. Some individuals will never get a good night’s rest until they get a CPAP machine to regulate their breathing.  If you snore badly and wake yourself up in the middle of the night because of it, you might be a candidate.  Go take part in a sleep study to find out.

So Questions:

How much do you average a night?
How important is sleep to you?
Can you add to this list?

Teachable moments happen when the eagerness to learn meets the opportunity to teach.  This isn’t about the classroom, though it can happen there.  Often times, students are in class because they have to be or because they want to graduate.  The teachable moments that I’m talking about are different.  They are usually unplanned.  They happen when someone who is ready to learn encounters someone who is ready to teach.

For example, A teachable moment happens when a player seeks out his coach asking him how to improve his game.  One of my players sought me out on Facebook today.  It was pretty cool.  Another player asked me at practice today what he needs to work on.  Again, I love that attitude.  I’d rather have a guy come and ask me what he needs to improve rather than having to point something out to a guy who thinks that he’s doing everything right.

Even better than those examples, I enjoy it when my son asks me to tell him a story.  Jeremiah asks me for stories a lot.  And, he wants me to make up a new and fresh one.  He keeps me on my creative toes.  And, what I’m saying today is that these stories are an excellent opportunity to teach my son Christian values and principles.  I never waste a story.  They’re great.  I’ve told Jeremiah the stories of Obeyemiah, Sharemiah, Nicemiah, Okayemiah, and more! You get the idea. 🙂 He’s 4 years old so of course he loves them, and I enjoy telling them.  I’m taking advantage of teachable moments.

I’m trying to be intentional about it because… the thing about teachable moments is that they aren’t always there.  I know Jeremiah won’t always want to learn… and I may not always be ready to teach.  I have to tell these stories to him while I can.  The same is true with the football team and my students in Spanish class and everyone else with whom I come in contact.

Like I said earlier, teachable moments only happen when the eagerness to learn meets the opportunity to teach.  They come and go.  So…

Please take advantage of the teachable moments.

Be looking for them.

Are you looking for teachable moments?

Have you taken advantage of any lately?

Is It Time For An Upgrade?

So, this week I realized that it was time to upgrade the operating system on my windows mobile phone.  It was getting glitchy and needed a “refresh.”  Have you ever noticed that nearly every PC seems to get slower and slower over time?  The machine starts out lightning quick, but before long, almost without our noticing, the machine begins to lag until we realize it’s time for an upgrade (software or hardware).  Well, this happens in life too and sometimes…

We Need An Upgrade

We wake up one day and realize our system is really bogged down.  We need a change.  The problem is that we really like our system.  We’ve gotten used to the way things are going.  We really like the way that it looks and feels.  Plus, it’s a lot of work to upgrade.  And, it’s time consuming.  And then, there’s the work it takes to get used to the new.  So what ends up happening is that…

We Don’t Want To Upgrade

Because it’s challenging.  But the good thing is that the discomfort of the upgrade only lasts for a little while.  Before long, we’re enjoying all of the benefits of the new.  Think about it, when we first upgraded our Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, or Vista, the change was tough at first, but now we’re enjoying all of the improvements of Windows 7.  And so, the truth is that…

We Need to Upgrade

Said another way, we need to change.  We need to adapt.  We need to keep up.  Not just with technology but also with our methods and practices of life.  In the same way that it would be ridiculous to still be using an old junker PC running Windows 95 (a 15 year old operating system), it is ridiculous to live and act as though it were still 1995.  So, much has changed.  The truth is that things are changing at lightning speed every where now.   Are you keeping up?  Are you just slowly rolling through a sub-par life?  Is it time to make some changes (upgrades)?  It will be uncomfortable at first, but the benefits will be awesome.  It’s time to make some big-time decisions that will move you in a positive forward direction.  It’s time to do something that will make a difference…in your life and in the community around you.  So the question is…

Are You Ready to Upgrade?

It’s your call.  What are you going to do?  Don’t live a blah life.  It’s probably time for an upgrade of some sort, isn’t it?  I know I’ve got some planned upgrades.  How about you?

It doesn’t take much to impact a life.  And the cool thing is, often times when you make an impact, an impact is also made on you.  Since that’s true, who wouldn’t want to be a part of something that positively impacts people?

So at my church, we have a youth-led service once per month, and after the service, the teenagers usually enjoy what we like to call a Y-NOT.  It stands for Youth Night Out Tonight (Our former youth pastor, Michael Haley, came up with the concept).  So anyway, this past Sunday night, my brother issued a challenge to the teenagers.  He asked them to go out into the community and be a blessing to people in need.  The idea was to find people at Wal-Mart, the grocery store, the bus stop, the convenience store, or wherever, who look like they might be in need, keeping in mind that there greatest need may be a personal relationship with Jesus.  To facilitate their experiences, the teens were partnered into teams with each chaperon taking about four students.  They were also given business-size invite cards, and $40 to give away.  And so, off they went to make a difference, and that’s exactly what they did.

Upon their return later in the evening, each team gave a testimony of their experiences.  The event was a hit.  The teens talked excitedly about what they had an opportunity to do…helping the needy, giving to the disadvantaged, buying food, giving of their own personal money, and the list goes on.  They met people with real life stories to tell, but even better they got to share the greatest story ever told!  The teens benefited so much from the event that they didn’t just talk fondly about it while at the church, they also went home and talked about it on Facebook.  Some even said that it was our best Y-NOT ever.  Pretty cool.  I’d say that there are at least four reasons that this event was successful:

It was successful because…

1. The teens experienced that it really is a bigger blessing to give than to receive – As it turns out, the Bible is right!  Acts 20:35 tells us that we are blessed to bless.  The more you bless the more you are blessed.

Go bless someone this week!

2. The teens felt like they made a difference – Everyone wants to be a difference-maker.  That’s true in sports, and it’s true in life.  We want our lives to count for something.  The teens performed random acts of kindness that demonstrated in real life the teachings of Jesus, who had compassion on people and obviously made a difference.

Go make a difference in someone’s life this week!

3. The teens got excited when they got to share their faith – Sure, it can be intimidating to share your faith, but it’s much easier when you have a group cheering you on (That’s what our teams did).  And once you’ve shared your faith, it feels great!

Go tell someone about Jesus this week!

4. The teens liked the feeling of win-win – It can be fun to play a game, especially if you win, but if someone wins that also means someone loses.  And for the losers, it usually isn’t as much fun.  But with this event, everyone wins…it’s a win-win!  That means the night is positive for everyone.

Look for the win-win this week!

So was the event perfect?  Probably not.  Did everyone we sought to help really need/deserve help?  Who knows.  Will any of the people we impacted ever come to our church?  We sure hope so.  Will the people ever become Christ followers?  Only God knows.  Did we give away a lot of money? Perhaps.

Was it worth it? Definitely!  The four reasons listed above explain clearly why it was all worth it.  Plus, we planted seeds…in the community and in our own lives.

So, what are your thoughts?

I love Wal-Mart… really, I do.  I easily visit a couple of times a week.  Whether living in Virginia or living in Florida, I have always lived just a few tenths of a mile from the retail giant.  In Virginia, I could see it from my front home.  But unfortunately, Wal-Mart has a problem… well they probably have several problems… every organization does.  But, for today, their problem involves the “I just work here” attitude.  This is the attitude that happens when someone feels no responsibility for the impact of the organization.  It may be that they are not empowered to make a difference, or it may be that they are not motivated to do so.

So, a couple of nights ago, I went to Wal-Mart.  As I walked in, I snapped the picture to the right.  The picture shows the display that offers sanitary wipes that can be used to clean your shopping cart.  Well, the sign says, “Please let us know if the container is empty.”  Well as you can tell from the picture, there is no container there at all.  So, being the upstanding citizen that I am, I politely told the notorious “Wal-Mart greeter” about the problem.  The gentleman quickly replied, “We’re all out.  Sorry.”  Well… Now, if I had seen this sign and gotten this response from someone at an office building, church, school, or restaurant, that answer would have been mildly acceptable.  But the thing is, we were at WAL-MART!  You can’t just get away with that answer at Wal-Mart.  Are you telling me there aren’t any containers of Clorox wipes or even diaper wipes on the shelves of the entire store?!?  Not even an off-brand wipe you could put out there?  I’m certain they weren’t truly “all out.”  The bottom line is that this greeter was communicating that the sanitary outage wasn’t his fault and wasn’t his area of oversight.  Boo on that!

But here’s the deal, how often do we do this at our work place or at our church?  Being of the mindset that “It’s not my problem. I just work here” is horrible and unproductive.  And at church, it hinders the movement of God.  You are impeding God’s work when you choose not to be part of the solution.  Please, don’t stand against God!  That’s a dangerous place to be.  So, next time your church is out of toilet paper, paper towels, or pens, or the next time the trash needs to be picked up or emptied, or the next time the parking lot is full, or the next time a visitor looks lost, be part of the solution.  It’s the right thing to do.

As the old saying goes, “Time is money.”  But, it’s more than that.  Time poorly invested represents lost opportunity.  Here’s what I’ve learned this week about time and about money…

So, we’re in the market at my church for a new computer that will power the visual elements of our worship experience.  For a while now, we’ve used a PC that one of the guys on staff at our church custom-built.  The problem is that the unit has been acting up for about a year… maybe more.  From time to time it freezes up, and now it glitches consistently when playing videos.  We are well overdue for a replacement.

Well, after a decent amount of research, we settled on buying a Mac.  There’s a reason many large churches use them to power their worship experience … they’re reliable.  But, they’re also expensive.

So, here I am working for a church with limited resources, and I’m trying to be a good steward.  I’m shopping for the best deal.  I’m waiting for the exact Mac we want to become available in the Apple Refurb Store … And that’s my problem.  I waited.  For the savings of $230, I waited.  And because of that, we had a major meltdown in the early service this past Sunday.  The computer hung up several times and even had to be restarted.  Oops.

The sad thing … we had visitors in the service.  We just lost the chance to make a good first impression.  We looked unprofessional … like it doesn’t matter if God’s program is run smoothly or correctly.  But the thing is, God deserves the best.  And, we didn’t get it done this week.  And unless God is gracious, we may have lost our only opportunity to reach these visitors.  So, was it worth it?  Was it worth waiting another weekend in order to save the $230 bucks?  Probably not.

May God be gracious to us!

Twitter is supposed to be an open and honest window into the daily lives of the people we know.  But sometimes, that transparency can be dangerous…especially for Christians.  Rick Warren got some heat from fellow Christians just a couple of weeks ago because of this very thing.  In the process of expressing the spiritual strength of his church, he stirred up the Christian twittersphere.  His comments were misunderstood.  That said, it almost seems like someone should put together a Christian guide to the twitterverse.

Well, in the absence of an official, agreed-upon, nominated, voted-for, ratified, all-inclusive, God-breathed Twitter handbook for Christians, Jon Acuff from Stuff Christians Like has put together a list of 32 helpful guidelines.  While Jon’s stuff is usually meant to be half-serious and humorous, I think he’s on to something here.  These are his thoughts:

Christian Twitter Guidelines

1. Beware “the boy who cried retweet.” If you retweet everyone, you might as well retweet no one.

2. A photo online is forever. Don’t tweet a picture unless you’re ready for it to exist forever online.

3. If their Twitter profile lists “tickle fights” and “wearing bikinis” as their hobbies, they’re not real.

4. Complaining that someone you follow “tweets too much,” is the peak of Twitter selfishness.

What you’re saying is, “I know you have 200 followers, but I feel like you should have checked with me on the number of tweets I tolerate a day. It’s 7. And you just tweeted your eighth time of the day.”

5. If you’re a pastor, you are contractually obligated to tweet how hott your wife is or that you married up or out of your league.

6. When you write a rude tweet to tell someone they were rude, you create such a forcefield of irony it makes Alanis Morissette’s teeth hurt

7. Worrying about someone hating you is like chasing down a car that gave you the middle finger on the highway. Let it go.

8. Don’t make grand claims you won’t fulfill. I once promised to tweet through a section of the Bible. I didn’t. Epic fail on me.

9. Always, always double check that you’re sending a private direct message not a public tweet. Switching the two is not so awesome.

10. If a tweet gets retweeted a bunch, avoid the temptation to write 47 versions of that tweet. Quit tweeting a dead horse.

11. “Do what you love and you will find someone who loves the same thing; don’t look for love. Don’t beg for love, or suffer for love.”

You know who write that positive message? Snooki from the Jersey Shore show on MTV. Everyone and their grandmother tweets affirmations. Be careful that your amount of positive messages don’t make other people feel negative. I’m not above writing the odd positive tweet myself, but when you rainbow it all day, it can feel fake.

12. Don’t tweet holier than you normally talk. Don’t get seminary mouth all of the sudden when you get on Twitter.

13. Asking for a retweet is a bad way to first introduce yourself to someone. Make friends, not favors on twitter.

14. A smiley face is twitter’s version of “bless her heart.” You can’t tweet a jerk statement and then think ending it with a erases it.

15. If you’re married, you have 2 options for your photo: you kissing your spouse or a photo from your wedding.

16. Keep your name short. Your email address might be “GodismykingIpraisehiminthemorning777” but that’s too long to retweet.

17. Twitter has a 2 to 1 sarcasm ratio. For every 2 people who get your sarcasm, 1 person will take you seriously and think you’re a jerk.

18. Sending a link is like sending a piece of your reputation, send it carefully.

19. Don’t be 2 different people on twitter. Tweet the way you live. If you wouldn’t say something flirty in “real life,” don’t on Twitter.

20. Twitter is tone deaf. Be hyper careful about trying to speak subtly on Twitter. Words can be misinterpreted very, very easily.

21. Don’t become a “Christian Provocateur.” That’s great your church is doing a sermon on sex. Just don’t create fake sexy tweets for “buzz”

22. Focus on tweeting something vital, not something viral.

23. Don’t “twudge,” which is just twitter’s version of judging someone’s entire soul based on a 140-character tweet.

24. Don’t create silly words using the tw prefix. That goes for me too, “twudge?” Good grief! It’s so tempting though or twempting.

25. Don’t mistake number of followers on twitter for success on twitter. Measure quality of interactions not quantity of interactions.

26. Twitter is just a medium. Don’t fall so deeply in love that you think it won’t disappear or evolve like every other medium.

27. Resist the temptation to “turn on a speaker” during a conference. Public tweets are great for compliments, but bad for criticism.

I’ve seen this happen with hashtags, the way people can collectively see tweets about a certain subject. As a speaker, I love feedback from people in the crowd about what I’m talking about. But I think you should email or direct message your criticism and publically tweet your compliments. The ability to sway a crowd into a negative space is pretty massive. And let’s be honest, if during the middle of a conference speech you verbally screamed out, “That last point was whack!” your friends would sit somewhere else.

28. There needs to be some international sign that means, “I’m tweeting lines from the sermon during church.”

Right now, people think you’re playing Angry Birds if you use your iPhone during church. Until we have that sign, just do what I do and yell, “I’m tweeting the sermon!”

29. Look at a whole web page before you send a link to one thing you like on it.

A number of times I’ll be about to use twitpic and realize there’s a half naked photo for American Apparel on the page that is hosting the photo. I use the direct link option on image shack. You can’t be held accountable for the whole web, but be careful.

30. Twitter time is different from real time. Responding to a tweet from last week is like referencing the 1840s. Stay current or stay quiet

31. Unfortunately, 140 characters will not allow you to use a Christian email signature like, “In his grip,” in each tweet.

32. Be careful about sending someone an automatic direct message when they follow you. I’ve never had a good experience with one of those.

Pretty good start at our handbook, huh?  So, what more should we add?

It strikes me that in the church world we sometimes spend more time fighting against each other instead of fighting against the enemy…the devil and his crew.  The thing is, what President Lincoln said about our nation is probably true for our churches as well, “United we stand. Divided we fall.”  And actually, that’s a biblical concept.  Check out Matthew 12:22-30, especially verse 25.

Today, marketing guru, Seth Godin, made a blog post about his growing frustration with people who try to divide their tribe.  Here’s what he says:

The easiest way to make noise within a community is to divide the tribe.

Modernism, classicism, realism, impressionism–dividing things into schools of thought–or even warring camps–makes it easy to create tension and thus attention.

I’m running out of patience for people who would further their personal or media goals by dividing us in exchange for a cheap point or a few votes. If members of a tribe encourage schisms and cheer on the battles, is it any wonder that it’s hard to create forward motion? When we’re not in sync, power is dissipated.

Thoughtful conversation, dissent and disagreement are an essential part of growth. Intentionally pitting people against one another to make a few bucks is dangerous self-indulgence. The hardest part of being patriotic to your cause is rooting on the whole even when it’s easier to be a cynical critic.

So, take an inventory of where you are in life.  Are you contributing positively to your tribe or is it time change things around (join a different tribe or get on board with your tribe)?