So, I just finished two days of attending the Leadership Summit. Two days, 9 sessions, 17 different speakers . . . can you say information overload?!?!? But two days that I know were worth my time, just as they were last year and the year before when I attended. With all the information and challenges that come at you over the course of Leadership Summit, there is no way to take it all in and apply it right away. It's one of those thing where you take notes and then over the coming weeks, months, and possibly years make some of it more practical and applicable to your life and your situation.
Usually, at this point, the evening ofter the conference is over I can't make out any life or leadership lessons I learned. But, since I heard him speak, I have had the speaker at the last session yesterday running through my head - particularly one part of what he had to say. One of the things he challenged us with is to not let this conference become just another binder on our bookshelf, but to actually put into practice and apply what we were hearing.
This guy, Harvey Carey, is a black preacher in Detroit in an under-resourced (by North American standards church), and he was passionate about what he was talking about. With all the resources that are at the disposal of many churches in North America (although the current economy is having an impact on that to a degree), it is easy to attend another conference just so that we have another binder to add to the shelf. And we get all these binders full of great stuff on our bookshelves, but it never goes any further than that.
It got me thinking, and challenged me. How many books, folders, binders, notebooks, etc do I have on my bookshelves that are full of great stuff from conferences I've attended and classes I've taken, that I've never actually really applied the stuff in them in my own life and leadership? I think it's far more than I would care to admit. I love to read good books. I love to listen to good speakers. But, I think I, like so many others, stop at that. I read the books and listen to the speakers, but I don't apply the stuff to my life. It stays as good stuff in my head and never affects my life.
Not that I expect to be able to perfectly apply everything I hear or read. I don't think that's what this guy was talking about either. But, I think what is important about what he said is that we need to take all of the incredible resources at our disposal and actually use them to their full potential. Not just add them to the bookshelf, but look for what we can apply to our lives and then actually apply it.
Like Leadership Summit . . . there's so much good information, teaching, and challenges that were thrown at me. And, at this point, it is a little overwhelming. But, I can't let that be an excuse to do nothing with it and just put the notebook on the shelf. I need to go through and take some things that I can use in my situation and begin to apply them in my situation.
So, how about you? Is your bookshelf full of binders from conferences that you've never applied anything to your life from? What's one thing you can start doing now from all that information?
Don't be afraid to start small. That's how it works. Take something small from all the information and start there. Then as times goes, do more small things from all those resources.
Just take advantage of the incredible amount of resources at your disposal.
Don't let them become just another binder on your bookshelf!!!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
a poem
So, my church is doing a series on Psalms for the summer. It's been a good series. One of the things they have been encouraging the congregation to do is to write their own psalms. That's what this is . . . my psalm . . . coming out of some thoughts that have been going through my mind in recent days.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
A little life filled with pain and illness;
then taken from this earth -
Far too young to suffer so;
Much too young to die.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
A young father stops to help another
and is killed in an instant.
A young mother and children left behind.
He was much too young to die.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
Two young lives snuffed out –
Before they really began to live;
And yet, in their deaths,
They touch so many more.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
A young woman, been through so much;
life is finally looking normal.
And then the bad news comes:
the cancer has returned.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
A car accident - the car is totalled;
they should both be dead.
Your angels sure protected them,
for out they climb uninjured.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
Why are some saved,
while others seems to suffer so?
Why do you answer prayers to heal
for some, but not for others?
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
Your reasons I may not understand;
My questions not be answered -
Yet I will choose to believe
that you, O Lord are good
and worthy of my trust.
So, that's it. My psalm. Nothing more to say.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
A little life filled with pain and illness;
then taken from this earth -
Far too young to suffer so;
Much too young to die.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
A young father stops to help another
and is killed in an instant.
A young mother and children left behind.
He was much too young to die.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
Two young lives snuffed out –
Before they really began to live;
And yet, in their deaths,
They touch so many more.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
A young woman, been through so much;
life is finally looking normal.
And then the bad news comes:
the cancer has returned.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
A car accident - the car is totalled;
they should both be dead.
Your angels sure protected them,
for out they climb uninjured.
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
Why are some saved,
while others seems to suffer so?
Why do you answer prayers to heal
for some, but not for others?
O Lord, you say you are good
and worthy of my trust.
But why, O Lord, do you allow
such troubles in this world?
Your reasons I may not understand;
My questions not be answered -
Yet I will choose to believe
that you, O Lord are good
and worthy of my trust.
So, that's it. My psalm. Nothing more to say.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
sometimes life isn't fair
Sometimes things happen in life that make you really think. One of those things happened to me today. The son of some friends of mine died . . . at about 2 - 1/2 years old. Now, up to this point life had not been easy for this little boy, with much of his life to date spent in Children's Hospital. But, it still just doesn't seem right when a little boy is gone - long before anyone would say that his time on earth should have been over. The huge positive is that his suffering is over, but it also means that his parents are mourning the loss of a little boy they deeply loved.
When I think about it, it doesn't seem fair. After all this family has been through in the last few years, losing their little boy just seems so unfair. Have they not suffered enough already? But, at the same time, maybe in some ways it fair to the little boy. He had been through so much more in his short life span than some of us will go through in our much longer lifetimes.
God doesn't promise that life will be fair while we are on this earth. He promises that He will be with us in the midst of life on this earth - in both the good and the bad. But, still our first question when something like this happens is "why" as we tell God that it isn't fair that this happened. It makes me wonder whether our definition of what is fair is the same as God's. He has en eternal perspective on things - we don't. He knows the greater good that can be brought out every situation - we don't at the time.
And, He understands the whole idea of life not being fair so much better than we ever can. I mean, the ultimate unfairness was Jesus going to the cross to die for our sins. So, maybe in situations like this God understands us far more than we think. And maybe we can place confidence in the fact that our God, Who promises to be with us through all of life, does also understand the feelings of life being unfair sometimes.
Life isn't fair. God is with us through it all.
Maybe that sounds a bit trite and a little bit like a "Christianese" thing to say. But there also is a lot of truth in those statements, and that is something to cling to in the midst of the questions that come in a time like this.
When I think about it, it doesn't seem fair. After all this family has been through in the last few years, losing their little boy just seems so unfair. Have they not suffered enough already? But, at the same time, maybe in some ways it fair to the little boy. He had been through so much more in his short life span than some of us will go through in our much longer lifetimes.
God doesn't promise that life will be fair while we are on this earth. He promises that He will be with us in the midst of life on this earth - in both the good and the bad. But, still our first question when something like this happens is "why" as we tell God that it isn't fair that this happened. It makes me wonder whether our definition of what is fair is the same as God's. He has en eternal perspective on things - we don't. He knows the greater good that can be brought out every situation - we don't at the time.
And, He understands the whole idea of life not being fair so much better than we ever can. I mean, the ultimate unfairness was Jesus going to the cross to die for our sins. So, maybe in situations like this God understands us far more than we think. And maybe we can place confidence in the fact that our God, Who promises to be with us through all of life, does also understand the feelings of life being unfair sometimes.
Life isn't fair. God is with us through it all.
Maybe that sounds a bit trite and a little bit like a "Christianese" thing to say. But there also is a lot of truth in those statements, and that is something to cling to in the midst of the questions that come in a time like this.
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