Trusting in Mere Humans

I read though Isaiah 2 this morning and at the end of the chapter I read this: 


"Stop trusting in mere humans, 
   who have but a breath in their nostrils.
   Why hold them in esteem?"

It's harsh but I like it. It's a good reminder we need to stop looking to humans to fulfill ALL of our needs. Please take note of the word 'all' because certainly there are times when humans can and do fulfill some of our needs. 

I am constantly reminded humans will disappoint, I will disappoint. I know I have and will continue to disappoint those close to me, those I come in contact with, I will disappoint myself, and dare I say, God. Sure, God already knows everything I'm about to do and knows who I am...blah blah blah. This doesn't mean He's not disappointed in my choices. This seems to be the very reason He asked Jesus to be the sacrifice. 

I see people church hopping because they put too much stock in sinful leaders to change their own walk with God. Men and women of all ages jump from one relationship to the other because they thought another human could perfectly fill each and every void in their life. Others use all their time and resources to promote a presidential candidate only to be severely disappointed the elected did not fulfill their promises. 

Idolizing people is dangerous, although easy. While God speaks through broken humans, He comforts others through selfish men and women, God challenges us to be better people by using those who aren't really better themselves we cannot forget everyone will let us down eventually and God will not. 

Only God can fulfill EACH AND EVERY ONE of His promises. Only God can speak a message so earth-shattering your life can change forever. Only God can be perfectly faithful in every way to the ones He loves. 

Psalm 36:5
Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.

Global Leadership Summit Day 2 part 2

During the first part of the morning (on the first day actually) Hybels shared a change in schedule. CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, was supposed to speak on the second day. I think he was supposed to speak about Vision and how Starbucks has done well to stick to their vision. Well apparently a group of homosexuals found out Schultz was going to be speaking at a church (they thought Willow Creek Church was anti-gay, my, how they are misinformed) and so they started a protest on Facebook asking people to boycott Starbucks. After meeting with the Summit leadership, including Bill Hybels, Schultz was released of his contract to speak and didn't show. Hybels and his team immediately pursued those who started to the boycott so they could sit down and discuss Willow Creek's ACTUAL view on homosexuality. I'll let the reader make their own opinion about Schultz but having watched how Bill Hybels handled the situation was encouraging. Here is a video clip of the situation.

After Rhee shared we went to lunch and came back to Dr. Henry Cloud, a clinical psychologist, speaking on The Evil, The Foolish, The Wise. Essentially saying, "you cannot deal with every person the same." Seems easy right?

*The wise person is someone who changes when faced with changed. They make sure they are the match for the situation, are good with feedback, stay challenged.

*The fools try to change the truth, instead of changing themselves to go along with it. They will generally shoot the messenger, minimize and externalize the situation. They are usually angry people who take no ownership.

*The evil person is bent on destruction. They want to inflict pain and will usually involve lawyers, guns, and money in trying to "solve" any situation. These people, Cloud said, need to be removed because they will attempt to destroy any vision or step of progress that is trying to be made and they WILL bring others down with them.

*I liked one of his opening statements: "God has called you to be a steward over a vision. To change something. Are you going to allow difficult people to prevent you from carrying it out?"

*When looking for people to be your support in your vision you should ask yourself, "What does a person do when the truth or reality comes to them?" Are they wise, foolish, or evil?

Again, "Don't let someone's character problem stop you from carrying out the mission God has called you to. Which reminds me of Paul and Barnabas splitting up. Not that they weren't both effective, but they knew their visions were different at a certain point of what God wanted them to do and they had the maturity to split. Unfortunately, I know not all people will handle things as maturely.

John Dickson, senior minister at St. Andrews Anglican Church in Sydney spoke on Humility. It was an interesting topic with a different twist. Dickson is a senior research fellow in the Department of Ancient History at a local university so his study on humility went far back into the ancient civilizations. One cool note and story he shared was of being in a band in his early years and getting to meet Bono. Him and a friend snuck in to the hotel where U2 was staying and were able to meet the band. It was a great story. Here are a few points on his talk of Humility.

*Humility does NOT mean Humiliation or Low Self-esteem.

*It IS to hold power in the service of others.

1. Humility is common sense. None of us is an expert at everything (although we try to be...or I try to be sometimes). Expertise in one area counts for very little in another.

2. Humility is beautiful. We are more attracted tot hose are who humble. Mark 10:43, Philippians 2:3-8

3. Humility is generative. it's a place of learning and growth.

4. Humility is persuasive. Ethos - Character, is central to persuasion

5. Humility is inspiring. It makes people think they can be just like the "great" (This is where his story of meeting Bono came. Bono had enough humility to meet with Dickson and his friend when he didn't have to, so Dickson had a sense like he could become great like Bono)

Since Schultz couldn't make it, his stand-in was Patrick Lencioni. President and found of The Table Group, which does consulting for businesses. He spoke on vulnerability which I felt tied in nicely with Humility. He had a lot of great stories about meeting with CEO's and other leaders of companies who were unwilling to be vulnerable and the impact it had on their employees.

*Vulnerability means you're open to attack.

*There are usually 3 fears of being vulnerable:
1. Fear of losing the business or fear of rejection -- Enter the danger, speak the kind truth (we won't always be successful)

2. Fear of being embarrassed -- Ask questions, are you looking out for their (employees) best interest? Celebrate our mistakes. He shared a short story about a woman farting in a large group meeting and trying to ignore it. If she would have acknowledged it everyone would have had a good laugh and moved on, but as she ignored it, it grew more awkward. It was a funny story.

3. Fear of feeling inferior -- Show people you are willing to do what you ask them to do. You won't always be rewarded. Honor your clients work.

*Being vulnerable breeds trust, loyalty, and commitment.


Last, but certainly not least, Erwin McManus. Erwin has written many books and is the pastor of Mosaic church in California, among other things. A lot of his books could be considered "post-modern," if you believe that term to exist. He has a new way of thinking about things that is often right along with the newer generations. His topic was "Chasing Daylight" or seize the day!

*One of the greatest challenges as a Christian is to change how we do relationships.

*Looking at Ecclesiastes 1, "There is nothing new under the sun..." this phrase is killing the church. People are not looking for things to do better.

*Why do we wait for someone else to create the future? (sound similar to another speaker's topics?) Become cultivators of human talent (Acts 7)

*There is no ordinary person born but most of us all painfully, tragically die ordinary.

*What is spiritual leadership if we do not set the human spirit free?

*The church needs to reclaim it's place as the epicenter of creativity

*It's not that hard to bring people to Jesus by telling stories.


And there it is. My final summary of the leadership speakers. While I know this is dragged out for those reading, it's been nice to go through my notes a few weeks afterward and review some golden nuggets I took away. Each person, though not all Christian, seemed to have a pretty God-centered message. Yes, there were times where the content was more business related but still those principles can be implemented in other areas.

If you've never gone to a Leadership Summit before, you NEED to go next year. Yes, I said NEED TO.


It's already scheduled, August 9 & 10 2012. 

Dear Anonymous

You didn't even say anything to me. I read your "constructive" comment on another blog and frankly...grow a pair. If you want to be condescending, all-knowing, and freely giving of your opinion at least identify yourself so we can give you the credit you so viciously crave.

You represent so many who hide behind the computer screen and anonymously do what you don't have the courage to do face-to-face. So many people think they know better and are lacking tact in presenting it to others. Enter the world wide web. A place for those with a confidence deficiency to speak their mind. Sure, there are more opportunities to talk to people online that we'd not otherwise come into contact with. This does not give permission to anyone to be cruel.

Furthermore, should there be anyone reading this who has given "constructive" comments or strong opinions on various social media websites or blogs using their name, make sure you can repeat that in person to the person you are responding to. In other words, if you wouldn't say that in person, don't cowardly use the computer to be a jerk.

Yours truly,
Anonymous

Leadership Summit Day 2

You probably thought I forgot. I really just needed to take a breath. And now a week later I will finish my blogs on the Summit.

Day two started off with Bill Hybels introducing the next topic and it's speakers. They were talking about 'Tough Callings'. Which made me nervous, because I knew I'd be challenged. Tough Callings mean sacrifice and sometimes...most of the time, I just don't want to sacrifice much.

There was supposed to be 2 speakers, Rev. Sundar from North India and Mama Maggie Gobran from Egypt. Unfortunately, Sundar was denied some legal document for his travel (it might have been his passport) at the last minute so he was not there. Hybels took up some of Sundar's allotted time sharing about different things in scripture in regards to Tough Callings. He focused on James 1 and Jeremiah 20 in particular.

Then Mama Maggie Gobran came up to speak. She shared about her tough calling. Raised in middle-class family in Egypt, Gobran was able to attain an education all the way through college. She eventually became a college professor of Computer Science at the American University in Cairo. Her aunt was working with the poor of Cairo (and when I say poor, it was the slums. Families living in the city landfills) feeding them and clothing them. After her aunts passing, Gobran decided she needed to take over her aunt's work. She founded Stephen's Children ministry which takes care of the families who live in the landfills. They work to make sure they are clothed, fed, educated, and loved. She was an amazingly humble woman who sacrificed a lot to serve these families. This woman has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and yet she will earn so much more in heaven for the work she has done. The question I was mulling around in my head after hearing her and Hybels speak was: Do you have the courage to listen to God's calling?

Next up was Michelle Rhee, Founder of Studentsfirst.org. She is well known for her previous role as Chancellor of D.C. public schools in Washington DC. She was hired to reform the school district and in one year she closed about 23 schools and fired over 1,000 district employees. Can you say unpopular? She presented in an interview format, where someone was asking her questions about her career. Some of the things she went through, experienced, and accomplished were nothing short of amazing. However, just like Jeremiah, she was hated for what she was doing, by most DC citizens anyway. I enjoyed listening to what she had to say and during our lunch break Jon and I talked about my experiences with teaching (limited though they are) and how Rhee ran her school district. I can tell you one thing...TUSD and perhaps other surrounding school districts would be a lot better off if they got rid of the school board (I know why they're in place but they are often prohibiting any positive change) and teacher's unions and had someone evaluate staff on the performance of their students. What I mean by performance of their students is that their students are moving forward, showing progress in their learning. If students start their school year behind in their reading there should be some progress by the end of the year. If not, it doesn't really matter if the teacher's performance evaluation goes well and their students are not showing progress. Interesting. Praise God for people who have motivation and drive such as Rhee. She seemed ruthless but no one else was willing to make those hard decisions. The DC school district has vastly improved since her leadership there.

More to come later.....

Reflection on Summit Day 1

Did I mention the Summit started off with Willow Creek's music team singing Awake My Soul by Mumford and Sons? Awesome. The singing in between certain speakers and breaks was a little cheesy, but the speakers are what I went to hear.

Jon and I went to the Summit because we felt God had us in different situations where we could learn and use expertise from other leaders. Little did we know the impact it would have on us.

I had never heard Bill Hybels speak nor had never read any of his books but he was great to listen to. He started out with an introduction and went in to being challenged. Sometimes I think I'm not challenged enough because I stay at home. I'm not saying taking care of a kid is not challenging. It is. I'm saying growing as an adult, a servant of Christ, growing in my maturity as a person, in my behavior and thoughts is what I was looking for. Maybe some of you can argue this can happen at home, and I won't dismiss that at all. You don't learn the same things from your child as you would from a pastor or leader. It was a good reminder for me to continue growing as a person outside of being a mother to be a good example to our kids. I also fall in to the category of not forcing myself to be challenged. It's easy to slink away from challenges by just staying at home.

I was excited to hear Len Schlesinger talk about taking action. I get weary listening to others, and sometimes myself, about how they're going to do something, but they never follow through. Or perhaps they complain about something but aren't willing to take steps to make changes. We have the gift of being able to take action. How often do we as a society say "we'll believe it when we see it"? We don't believe things until we see the actions someone has taken to make it true. Why are Christians in particular so apathetic to taking action? Why do we sit and worry and fret about how things will happen in the future? We do have control over some of it. God wants us to take action in most situations, so where are we? If our God is for us then who could ever stop us? If our God is with us, then what could stand against us? Why are we so scared? Take action, even if it's baby steps.  I liked when Schlesinger said if you can't predict the future, then act and create it! Finally, he said to bring other people with you. I can think of a myriad of reasons why we should be creating a future with others. We should be acting together to be a support, to be a well-spring of ideas, to provide strength, accountability to one another. I'm ready to take action and I pray for each person I know, that if God provides opportunities to act you will trust him and take a step. "If all you do is think, you are less interesting as a person!" Get off your duffs and do something!

Listening to Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey was more inspiring than full of wisdom. Sure he had some great ideas and tidbits of wisdom he passed along. What was most interesting to me was the mountains of crime, poverty, and overall bad attitudes he faced going in to his position. All of which he has chiseled to mole hills. I'm sure he doesn't feel this way but his actions and results speak of it. His story left me feeling like ordinary people can make a huge difference. He is making a huge difference and I pray God continues to drive him in a direction to love the people of Newark. Another great reason we should be praying for our political leaders.

Next up was Brenda Salter McNeil. She was a great speaker and had wonderful things to say. I didn't connect as much with her session as I did with the others. However, the one key idea I remember and feel inspired by was, "experience catalytic events with eyes of faith, not fear." Catalytic events will happen, they have happened to me and how I choose to honor God during those times is what brings me to today. I choose to use catalytic events to move me in my relationship with God so I can be closer to him. What are you going to do with the catalytic events God puts in your life? Will you stay stuck or will you move forward?

Seth Godin, again perhaps one of my favorite speakers, opened my eyes to failure. What was interesting was in his list of accomplishments and titles it stated, "As an entrepreneur, he has founded dozens of companies, most of which have failed." Well duh, Cara, that's what entrepreneurs do. Yes, but rarely are failures talked about. It seems like such a taboo topic in general. People work so hard to be perfect and have only success, but it's not realistic.  I know I'm not perfect, but I don't want to be known as a failure. Why are we so afraid to talk about failures? They are learning opportunities. I think what was so great was some of the speakers talks were easily connected. Failure, action, vulnerability, and humility. They all work together. What a dynamic person to have all of those on your personal resume. I've struggled a lot with failure this year. I've allowed it to beat me down and make me feel like I'm not worthy of God's blessing because I failed at reaching people for him. So I was stopped in my tracks when I heard Godin speaking of how failure is not a big deal. It happens so move on. Do something else. Failure shouldn't stop us from doing what God wants us to do. How many "great" people have had failure upon failure? In fact how many people have started companies or created an invention that just bombed. They may have gone down a different road afterward but did that end their searching for opportunities? I wonder. this is especially helpful in my writing. I often feel like I'm not getting any better. I read books and while I know "great" authors such as J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) are denied by several publishers before finding one who believe in their stories, it still somehow seems like they have something I don't. I don't want Satan to be able to use failure against me so I want to change my response to my failures and keep trying. God has something in store for me and I will continue to seek that out.

Global Leadership Summit - Day 1 part 2

I really have so much to say in reflection of the conference but I feel the need to share about the speakers first. I want you to know who these dynamic people were. So let me finish introducing day 1 speakers. You'll probably get tired of hearing about it but I think I have a weeks worth of blogs that I could write up just tonight on everything. Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I'm on the conference high which will fade. You just have to be there and listen to what God is saying through each of these people to understand the inspiration and passion. That's where I want to be. I want to be in a place where God's passion emanates from me.


Reverend, Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, founder and president of Salter McNeil & Associates (a leadership development firm). Salter McNeil spoke on having courageous leadership for catalytic times. She was a great speaker, very passionate and definitely at times fit the stereotype (if that's ok to say) of an African-American preacher. She got fired up! She spoke a lot on working globally and building global relationships.


*She used the example of Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier. He pushed through to the sound barrier when no one else did and that was a catalytic event!


*She read from Acts chapter 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."


*She likened Jerusalem as your home, your comfort zone. This takes courage to be a witness here because you are confronting people at your own table or in your own home. 


*Judea was in situations that were close to home, but had different sub-cultures. Things like different denominations or political differences, age differences...etc.


*Samaria was nearby but full of people we are hostile toward or vice versa. The impoverished communities we drive by, the corporate greed, outsiders. To be a witness in Samaria takes people who defy their natural abilities, using unorthodox tactics.


*It takes catalytic events to move us. Without these events we are stuck.


*Experience catalytic events with eyes of FAITH not fear. We shouldn't be afraid of huge events in our lives. God is there ready to use us. She gave these 3 simple steps to use catalytic events for the glory of God:
1. Pray for a divine mandate
2. Name your catalytic events
3. Mobilize people to go - Faith without works is dead!


Seth Godin, Squidoo founder, entrepreneur, blogger. This guy was perhaps one of my favorites. He was a quirky guy who made lots of jokes and used over 100 slides on powerpoint....all pictures. Apparently the powerpoint thing is something he's known for. They showed a brief clip of him talking about his presentations and he said (a loose paraphrase) "People use powerpoint wrong. They fill the slides with words and then expect the audience to read and listen at the same time. I use pictures to enhance my speaking." It was definitely an asset! He spoke on being an artist (not in the traditional sense of painting, drawing, or music), being one who creates and doesn't necessarily think outside the box but hangs on the edges of the box. We picked up his book, Poke the Box. 


*The industrial age is over, but a new age is emerging. An age of artists.


*Art as he defined it - The risky human act of doing something you've never done before with and for someone.


*There is no map for being an artist to tell you how to connect with people.


* People will not pay attention to things that are common or the same, they will pay attention to things that are different.


*An old school of thought was "What you want to do is what we ask you to do." We need to step outside of that thinking and start doing what we want (in terms of innovation).


*If failure is not an option than neither is success.


*Being innovative also means giving gifts, not favors. I'm doing this for you & with you.


*We are constantly looking for a reason to not do our art. Are these excuses or will you use them as opportunities?


*"We need you to lead us." - The World




Steven Furtick, lead pastor of Elevation Church in NC. This guy was pretty funny. Unfortunately, the conference was running late and we had to relieve our babysitters before he finished. Luckily, we have the audio files for all the speakers so we can listen to his talk again. He was talking about audacious faith. A side note: he reminded me of a black-haired Matt Damon. I think it was his facial features. Weird. 


*2 Kings 3:9-20 - The story of Elisha who believed God would come through. He dug ditches for rain water before the clouds were even in sight. 


*God doesn't want us to envision an end, just a start.


*If your vision isn't intimidating to you there's a good chance it's insulting to God.


*Faith believes it before it sees it.


*The difference between a visionary and a daydreamer is the audacity to carry out the vision.


And that's all the notes I have for him....I need to finish listening to his talk because my passion to recklessly abandon my desires and thoughts to trust God's was renewed.

Global Leadership Summit - Day 1

I told a few people I'd blog about the conference so they could read about what happened there. I'll do my best but I can tell you there is no way I'll be even close to sharing the passion, the motivation, the inspiration, the wisdom, humor and ideas as well as experiencing it in person. PLEASE, if you were even remotely interested in attending this year and made an excuse not to....do it next year! The date is already set August 9-10, 2012. It's not just for leaders it's for people who are looking to grow and be challenged.

A brief background of the conference. It is put on by Willow Creek Church in Chicago. I might have just lost some readers there who are thinking it's solely a Christian conference. IT'S NOT!!! They have people of all areas who speak and the ideas shared can be applied to any situation in life. Sure there are a lot of things incorporated which are Christian, but certainly there is something for all to learn. It is put on in Chicago and then is simulcasted across the US and many other countries.

Bill Hybels, Pastor of Willow Creek Church and author of several popular mainstream books opened with an introduction and spoke during the first session. He spoke a lot on leading people. He gave several ideas on how to rate people in your company or organization as well as how things are going. 5 questions were presented to the audience.

#1 What is your current challenge level? For example on a line graph split into thirds, one area representing being under-challenged, another being appropriately challenged, and finally another being dangerously over-challenged. Hybels stated there is a lot of research showing people who are just over the appropriate range in the dangerously over-challenged are the most productive and most motivated. Any other area on the line is dangerous. If you are not challenged you will atrophy, if you are appropriately challenged you become too comfortable, similarly if you are too far in the dangerously over-challenged area you will burn out and lose passion.

#2 What is your plan to deal with challenging people? What stuck out to me in this topic was challenging doesn't have to mean they are bad at what they do. In fact they might be great assets to the company but what happens if the company goes in a direction that doesn't is beyond that persons capacity? How will you let them go?

#3 Are you naming, facing, and resolving the problems that exist? His examples came from Acts 2-4 and 6. Read it.

#4 Are you clear about your core values, missions, visions? Hybels shared his staff is working to define the central gospel of Christianity in 5 words to refocus. The same can be done for any organization or company.

#5 Have you had your bell rung recently? Have you had an experience or heard some new nuggets of information that has rocked your world? You need to be constantly looking to improve. Humble yourself to learn from other leaders.

Final thought: You have to believe God will move you from here to there.

Len Schelsinger, president of Babson college (focused on entrepreneurship) among other accomplishments spoke on taking action. I saw an outline for his session beforehand and was excited to hear him speak. I hope to purchase his book called Action Trumps Everything because I strongly believe as a church we need to be doing more acting and less talking or watching.

Here are a few key ideas I took away from his session:

* You have to identify what is unacceptable about "here" to get people to move to "there."

*Believe in the future by creating it first!

*If you can't predict the future...act! Create it

*What would you do if you were Indiana Jones and you fell into a dark hole? Take small steps with what you've got on hand. What do you care about? Stop worrying about what you want to do and start thinking about the next steps.

*Failure doesn't mean game over, it means try again with experience. Quite likely you learned something else nobody knows through your failure.

1. Know what you want
2. Start with the means you have at hand
3. Observe and reflect on what you learned from each step
4. Take steps based on what you can afford to lose
5. Bring other people with you for support


Honorable Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He has a documentary about what he's been doing in Newark called Street Fight. 


His session was more motivational. He shared various experiences and stories of working in impoverished neighborhoods full of gang wars, drug dealers, and high rates of crime.

A few key thoughts:

*The only way to bring about change is to do it myself

* Who you ARE speaks so loudly I can't hear a single thing you say.

* In life you can either accept situations as they are and do nothing or you can accept responsibility to change it.

*Are we evidencing our truth?

Simple thoughts, but thoughts that are often forgotten.


Ok, I think that's enough for tonight. There were still 3 other speakers who shared on the first day. All were equally as inspiring. It might take me all weekend to share. ;) Get comfy!

I feel like I learned a lot of good information when working in groups and motivating others. Mostly I was motivated myself to pursue things I want to pursue. To not be afraid of failing and to TRULY believe God will work for me and through me.

Really, you need to go to one of these things.