Focus

I spoke at Immanuel High School's Chapel today.  It got me thinking about the message that i deliver on a regular basis and whether or not what I say on stage changes depending on the way I want to be perceived.  When I got to IHS and speak I am at a venue of about 300 people where 99 percent of the students profess a love of Christ.  Awesome, that being said, I want to make sure that I am both challenging and light hearted, which should probably be my goal for every talk, however, when I go to speak at special venues I try to put my best foot forward, there is something about a strange place with hundreds of people that stirs me to try and be better than I am.  

I work harder on my talk I cross reference more, I practice before I deliver it, etc.  

My question is this, why not put forth that effort all the time?

How much better could I represent the gospel by developing the abilities that God has given me and honing them to a place of excellence?  On Sunday Nights am I pouring over scripture to see the entirety of the meaning God has for us?  Am I practicing my delivery before I get on stage? Or am I letting myself be stagnant and settling for mediocre?  

The pursuit of excellence starts with movement in one direction, towards a goal, a fixed point.  We need to start that pursuit.

We have all been there, realizing our potential is sitting with us on the coach watching "The Wizard" and dreaming about owning the Nintendo 'PowerGlove' because, "It is bad!"

Lets move our potential off the coach and start to channel it into the things we want to do, the things God has gifted us with the ability to do.  Let's (Wo)Man up.

Lawn Mowers and Social Networking

On Saturday, I noticed my lawn mower got stolen.  It didn't get stolen on Saturday, I am pretty sure it was stolen a few weeks ago when grooming my yard was as high on my list of priorities as chewing ice and taxes.  But I got the yard work itch this weekend, I went and pulled weeds, raked out my flower beds, I felt good about my progress.

Then I went into my side yard to get my edger and lawn mower, all I saw was a pile of wood and a 20 foot metal pole mocking me.

So I did what all rational people do, I wrote a status update about it on my Facebook page.  Within 2 minutes of posting that comment I got a phone call from a good friend of mine, who like all good friends at first was angry for me, his greeting was actually, "Who the heck stole your lawn mower?"  To which I responded, "Wait, your lawn mower was stolen too?"  The conversation got confusing and awkward after that.

Regardless though, this friend of mine is going to let me borrow his lawn mower until we can get ours replaced, or until he forgets he loaned it to me and I write my name all over it.

Two things stick out to me most about this tale:

Social Networking works when you least expect it to.
       I had no thought in my mind that someone was going to reach out and allow me access to their lawn mower for as long as I needed it, he is even bringing it to me today because I am truckless and he is truckful.  It just makes me laugh sometimes when people go onto Facebook seeking advice or help and get a big fat "No Comments" on their status.

For example, when people write: things like What color shirt should I wear tomorrow? When there is a certified answer that is wanted, people are less likely to respond to that, why?   It is boring, people don't respond to boring on Social Networking sites.  That is why places like Twitter get a bad name sometimes because people write things like:

       @PeterNAnderson: I love my frosted flakes.

No one cares about your frosted flakes, but they would care about your frosted flakes if you write something like,

       @PeterNAnderson: I just found a severed finger in my frosted flakes that looks like Lincoln's face.

The strange, the unusual, the quirkiness of reality is what drives social media as well as the blessing that comes from encouraging other people and feeling like you are part of a larger community.

I wasn't pandering to try and get a lawn mower, I was simply stating that my lawn mower was stolen and the dude who stole it could at least trim my lawn on Satudays, but in my time of need when I thought my reality would be interesting to those in my social network, someone reached out to help out me and my family.

The other thing I learned is this:


I own my stuff, don't steal it, but if you do I hope it blesses you.


Please don't come into my yard and take my 300 dollar lawn mower, it is behind my fence for a reason, but if you do decide you want to break the law and take what doesn't belong to you I hope it blesses you and I will get a new one.

As a Christian I want to make sure that my treasures aren't kept on earth, I don't want my value to be tied to my things, especially my lawn mower, I hate mowing the lawn.  I don't want to be so tied to something that I can't ever part with it.

If a homeless person in need came up to me and asked for my favorite jacket of all time I want to be okay with giving it to him because I have a closet full at home (also that homeless person could have a golden voice that I could possibly profit from because I was nice and gave him my jacket).  I think that is part of having an eternal mindset rather than a temporal, is my pea-coat sweet? Ya, it is, if someone truly in need wanted it, I wouldn't hesitate to part ways with it, why?  Because I want to be the hands and feet of Christ and show love to those who get none.

Anything of yours ever been stolen?  How are you the hands and feet of Christ?