Words I Live By (Pt.2)

25 May , 2012 No Comments

This post is part of a series. Click here to read them all.

I first heard of this idea from Simon Sinek. He wrote this book about it and also talks about it in this TED talk. It has since become one of our sub-series in the Gospel of Luke at Central since it was such a cool perspective to dive into the sermon on the mount with.

The reality is that good communicators/leaders can be separated from the rest of the crowd simply by their ability to do this. Often, we struggle through the busyness of life and focus all of our time on the what. Here’s what I need you to do. Here’s what I need to know. What is that going to cost? The problem is that everyone has a what and most people don’t care about your what.

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Steal Like An Artist

23 May , 2012 No Comments

I blew through Austin Kleon’s new book Steal Like An Artist. This was such a refreshing read and really serves as an injection of creative disciplines for anyone trying to make anything. I love reading about creativity from people who are actually producing things. It’s easy to stand on the sidelines and offer criticisms. The tough part is getting in the game and trying to make something meaningful. I feel this tension every week as we try and creatively communicate God’s Truth through our weekend services at Central.

Here are some of the ideas in Austin’s book that really resonated with me:

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Words I Live By (Pt.1)

21 May , 2012 No Comments

This post is part of a series. Click here to read them all.

I got the idea to write out key phrases on a note card from Austin Kleon. The reality is that I have a handful of phrases that repeatedly run though my mind and affect so many of the decisions that I make. I started writing out a handful of them both as a discipline for me to think through them as well as to have for a reminder. I’ll share a handful of these as blog posts with an explanation of each sentence. Hopefully one or more of them can become foundational for you as well.

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The Meaning of Marriage

18 May , 2012 No Comments

My Life Group recently went through Tim Keller’s book The Meaning of Marriage. The subtitle— “Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God” —really does sum it up well. Keller takes a look at the foundation of marriage and debunks much of the romantic and faulty ideas that our culture has readily adopted. At first, some of his ideas seem almost unromantic due to their focus on commitment. Yet it is this focus that makes this book so counter-intuitive and profound.

Here are some of my favorite passages that illustrate this:

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Giving Birth to Wind

16 May , 2012 No Comments

I read through the book of Isaiah recently and this passage stood out to me:

“We were with child, we writhed in labor, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the people of the world have not come to life.” Isaiah 26:18

The phrasing of this passage slapped me in the face. It shows us that while we often writhe in labor—if we do it without God—we will give birth only to wind. As a driven person this causes me to stop in my tracks. And rightly so.

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Angry Birds Theology

14 May , 2012 No Comments

I heard an incredible story recently from some friends of ours. The dad of a 5 year old boy was telling me that they were sitting in church with his wife while their son was sitting next to them playing angry birds. That day, the pastor was describing the Trinity. He was referencing different analogies that are commonly used such as water and an egg. In the midst of this, my friend’s son stops his game and says, “Dad, it’s like this,” and then shows him the picture above on his phone.

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