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I thought this was a great video. Not only is it entertaining, but a couple of observations and applications regarding all our journeys of faith, dreams, etc.

1. Know who God has made you to be. Strength Finder and APEST.org are good starting points.

2. Be bold and live out your calling. Simply do your best and go hard.

3. Ultimately “success” is up to God. We need to just go. (See proverbs 21:34, story of Jonathan and the Philistines, etc)  This is the hardest one for me. It’s so easy to think we have all the ability.

What strikes you as you watch the video?

If you asked Naomi (my wife) she would probably say I live with the “What If?”question at the forefront of my mind most of the time. I’m not sure why but I’m always thinking about What If? in regards to faith, church, work, family, saving money, our lives in general.

I live my life by knocking on doors and trusting God to open the correct ones. (If I’m in the right place spiritually in my relationship with Christ this works out every time).  Usually my “What If” questions stay in the arena of at least somewhat possible. Actually because of the “significance” strengthfinder strength it usually stays in the realm of what I know is doable.

However after a conversation I had with Dan Webster I’m allowing myself some time to ask bigger “What If” questions? I realize that I’m actually timid in regards to knocking on those “bigger” doors. Why you ask? Because I’m nervous about the life change that can happen when doors open. The bigger question for me is not asking a question like, “What if I did, said, went,_________________,etc?  I ask those questions all the time. That’s the dreaming component of life. The hard question for me to answer is, “What If I pursued______________ and, it actually became a reality. What If then? What If my “What If” actually became a reality would I actually do it?

I find that people often dream, talk and even hope for change, but the reality is we don’t knock on doors because we’re nervous about the door of change actually opening because of the change that comes when a door opens.

So what are the big “What If’s” you dream about?

Have you taken tangible steps towards knocking on the doors? If so how has that changed your life?

Side Note: This post is about the direction of your life not if I’m questioning faith in Jesus Christ. For those of you who have not yet made a decision to follow Jesus that is a big “What If” question that, in my opinion, should be pondered as well.

So as of today I have stopped reading books.

Don’t get me wrong I love to read, I read lots. I also think it has become a problem for me. So I’m going to do a little experiment with myself. Take a month off of reading any book or magazine or any published material for that matter.

Why? Simply because I think way more about what I am reading every day than I do thinking about God and what He might be saying. Sure I have lots of conversations in my head about what I have read and what He might think about those things. I try my best to be sensitive to His leading in order to provide pastoral care, etc. However, in my mind, I’m always discussing my ideas and my thoughts. Again, this is totally cool and not a big issue until that seems to be the primary conversation. It seems the conversation has circled around “ME” for the last little while. Of course with good intentions, serving His church and people around the world, but still around “ME.” So I’ve compiled a list of why I am fasting from reading anything other than the Bible for the next month.

1. I read way more books than I do the Bible and I feel like I’m suppose to stop for awhile.
a) Disclaimer – I know its not “bad” to read other books more than the Bible. It has though become a matter of conscience for me, to use some Driscoll language.
2. My reading of other books has started to encroach on my time in Scripture. This seems to be happening more frequently lately.
3. I feel more guilty and annoyed with myself when I haven’t read something “insightful” that day than if I read Scripture or not.
4. The first place I go to satisfy my thirst for knowledge, creativity and innovation is someone else’s research and opinion.
a) Again no “slam” on anyone else, I’m just not taking the responsibility to talk with God first.
5. I just read Scripture I don’t meditate on it. I read books and meditate on them it seems instead.

So, I know how the saying goes about leaders and readers. Seriously though, I’m done for awhile.  Perhaps I’m a crappy leader for not reading for awhile or taking things too far, or not far enough etc, etc… Today will actually be the first day I haven’t read a book or magazine of some kind in a very long time.

The plan is to stop reading until October 12th. Why October 12th? Because its the first Monday after Catalyst and I’ll probably be itching to read again.

What have you taken too seriously lately & are you doing something about it?

***Discalimer, the presentation uses offensive language. It is also very good.***

I am a huge fan of Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, etc.  If it’s socialmedia related I probably love it.  However I was even dumbfounded how popular it really is.  Actually perhaps better said, how influential it is and how devasting it can be to a company, non-profit, church, etc if not used properly.

I know this isn’t new, but perhaps new to you. I think this slideshow explains it better than anything else I have seen on social media.

***DISCLAIMER #2***

Excuse the title, and the “**” out language. This isn’t my slideshow but yet it is probably the best explanation of the reach and influence of social media currently online. So please don’t miss the message.

So, does your church have a social media policy yet?  If yes, please share, because ours doesn’t yet, but I’m working on it.