Month: July 2017

God is not all you need

He was sipping his coffee, wrestling with loneliness. A kind hearted, growing Christian, who was finding support in God, and on the verge of giving up on humanity. He didn’t want to go to Church. They were all judgmental hypocrites, who didn’t care about him. His friends had pushed him aside. In his mind, all he had was God, and that was all he needed. He reflected on the old song, “You’re all I want. You’re all I ever needed” I encouraged him to continue growing closer to God in this time. And then, I told him another truth:

Friend, God is not all you need.

He looked at me as if I had blasphemed the Holy Spirit. His eyebrow went up. He must have felt that I didn’t understand. So, he began clarifying that God is all he needs. He needed to pray more, read his bible more. He didn’t need all the problems that come with having other people in his life. They just pull him down. I let him vent. I have been there myself. I get it. Then, I told him again.

Friend, God is not all you need.

Then, I brought him all the way back to the beginning. “Do you remember the first thing that was not good? It’s found in Genesis 2:18.”

Adam had God. For relationship, all Adam had was God. He knew God in ways we may never know in our lifetime. Adam had God. And God said “It is not good for man to be alone.”

My friend responds, “Alone? How was Adam alone. He had God?”

This is the very point God was trying to make.

Our relationship with God does not satisfy our need for relationship with others. We can have God and still be alone. And, that’s not good.

As I look at my journey as a Christian, I believe God has provided three very important things to help me along the way:

1) The Word of God, 2) The Spirit of God, 3) The People of God

Today, the focus is on the last point. Without other people in my life, I cannot imagine what it would be like. I’m not talking about going to Church on Sunday (although I do enjoy that time). I mean real relationships, with friends and family who speak into my life, provide Godly counsel, support me in my struggles, lift me up and encourage me to keep going. Sometimes, I even get to do that for them.

At my church, we say: Life happens in circles, not rows

Church services are great for motivation, encouragement and the wonderful reminder of God’s great love for us. But, they are not great for building life long, meaningful relationships with the people around us. That happens over lunch, dinner, coffee, or through a small home group. That’s where relationships happen.

Since the beginning, God has designed us for relationships.

This week, as you go about your planning, I encourage you to look at the people around you, and see them as a gift from God. Encourage them. Pray for them. Even for that one person you don’t like. Believe it or not, you need them. God knows, it is not good to be alone.

What Flatland BMX taught me

It all started with a wheelie.

1986 was a glorious year for BMX. The movie Rad came out. I saw tricks in this movie that blew my mind. I was going into 7th grade and I could do a wheelie and an endo (hit the brake and go up on the front wheel). This movie inspired me to take my BMX riding to a whole new level. Continue reading “What Flatland BMX taught me”

How “I will” changes “I didn’t” to “I did”!

“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you are right.” Henry Ford

It took me over 15 years to start writing. I talked myself out of it thousands of times. I would tell myself, “I don’t“:

  • have enough time
  • know enough information
  • have enough content
  • know the process for publication
  • have a platform large enough to sell any books
  • know grammar or spelling well enough

I look over the last few months of blogging, and I can see that once I decided “I will“, then the “I don’t” began shifting to “I didn’t“. I still have a lot to learn, and I am okay with that. Pretty soon, I will look back and say:

“I don’t” became “I didn’t” and “I will” became “I did”

The truth is, I could:

  • adjust my schedule to make time
  • read more books, listen to podcasts, go to conferences
  • write about what I do know, and write more as I learn more
  • study the process for publication, talk to other authors
  • expand my platform by putting myself out there for others to see
  • review language, writing, and spelling classes, and have others proofread before publication

The shift from “I don’t” to “I did” is like the remote control. I can see it across the room, but I have to move to get it.

My first 5k “run” was about 6 years ago. I had never ran more than a mile on purpose before then. Since then, I have “run” two other 5k’s. Each took me between 45-50 minutes.

This year I signed up for a half-marathon. This wasn’t on my bucket list. I am not a “passionate runner”. I ride BMX bicycles and do tricks for fun (more on this on my Wednesday blog).

I am doing this half-marathon for a cause – raise $3,000 to give clean water to communities in Africa. Learn more and/or help support me by clicking here.

When I look back to the day I said “yes” to the the half-marathon, I remember telling myself, “I don’t”:

  • have the skill or the time
  • have the resources
  • have the discipline to exercise for that type of run
  • have the capacity to run that long or that far
  • know what to expect

In October, I will look back and say:

I didn’t. I did.

Each Sunday we have been talking about weekly planning. Today, I encourage you to think about the “I don’t” that keeps you from making meaningful progress towards a goal you want to achieve.

“I don’t” will not become “I didn’t” until “I will” becomes “I did”.

COMMENT: What is one action (“I will”) you can take to change your “I don’t” to “I didn’t”?

Become a data analyst in four simple steps!

During the most recent election season I would see numerous polls telling me what the population believes. I remember a specific poll that showed a significant portion of the population held a view that I did not hold, and it startled me a bit. So, I looked the analysis up, and found that the poll was of 1,000 people across a three state area in the New England area. I thought to myself, 1,000 people? Is that really a true sample size of the 350+million Americans who have an opinion?

Whether you are looking at political polls, compiling big data, reading a magazine, watching a documentary, or even studying the Bible, I encourage applying these steps to understand the information.

When it comes to data or information analysis, focus on these four steps:

Collection, Interpretation, Application, and Communication

The steps are outlined below with an example of telling time:

  1. Collection – Gathering as much data as necessary to answer – What does the data say?
    • 9:45 pm
  2. Interpretation – The process of reviewing, validating, and even collecting more data, to answer – What does the data mean?
    • Everyone should be in bed in 15 minutes
  3. Application – The result of interpreting the data will lead to a conclusion which will answer – What does the data tell me to do?
    • I need to let everyone know to start getting ready for bed
  4. Communication – The process of translating the collected data to an impacted audience you need to answer – How do I tell people what the data means?
    • Exclaim, “It’s 9:45 people….get ready for bed. Turn off your electronics, brush your teeth, and put on your pajamas!”

Regardless of what you are analyzing the process is the same.

The hardest part of analysis is to simply follow the process.

Each step has it’s own challenges, key points, and implications for skipping the step.

Collection – Too much time collecting data can overwhelm the interpretation process. You must learn to weed out bad or irrelevant data. If you skip this step you are simply making things up.

Interpretation – The more variables there are in the data, the more complicated this process becomes. Too few data points may lead you to a false conclusion. You must identify the key variables, and consider multiple alternatives or ways to apply the information. If you skip this step everything else is simply your opinion and you may never know if you had the right information.

Application – There are always other factors you could not know or predict. Based on what you know, it is important to identify what you believe is the best option.  If you skip this step you have nothing to communicate.

Communication – People will consume and interpret information differently, so there is not a simple answer here. Some will want to see all the data, how you interpreted it, all the alternatives you considered, and why you decided on your application. Others will want the concept and the soundbite. A big risk is to communicate misleading soundbites. You must identify your audience, and the level of information you want them to consume, or that they need to consume. If you skip this step then you are the only person who knows what the data is saying.

Using these steps will not only make you a better analyst, it may also make you question or understand the analytical results you hear from others.

Comment – What other ways do you interpret information?

Productive weeks are like separating oranges

Do you have a lot of messy work weeks? Do e-mails and meetings hinder you from a productive work day?

If so, I recommend an honest review of your work by what I will call the “principle of separation”. It’s like an orange. Separating an orange the right way leaves a beautiful wedge for eating. Separating it the wrong way leaves your hands sticky and everything messy.

Continue reading “Productive weeks are like separating oranges”