The Dream Factory

Give Up or Get Up

It was not my best day ever. I have to be honest. Otherwise, I have nothing of value to say.
Yet, who am I to say anything about a day?

I have experienced, exercised, and exorcised most possible negative emotions. I am so tired and frustrated that I have turned to late night work to energize and encourage me.

It does. The very notion that I can somehow be productive and contribute something lifts my spirits and I think it will lift most people's spirits.

"Bad days" are crossroads. If the day is truly rotten and discouraging, the temptation is to give up. It is a strong temptation, not only to give up, but to do it in some big, demonstrative way that announces to the masses that ... well ... another person has quit.

And then, you expect a monument, a testimonial, or a day of recognition. It is not likely to be that way.

Quitters are a dime a dozen. There is no shortage of people giving up.

At the crossroads we choose: Give up or get up.

We already know how to give up. We need no tutorial on that. What we need is a strategy for getting up when the frustration anchor is deeply embedded in muck of bad luck and the sand of grand plans gone awry. Getting up takes a burst of energy from somewhere else and a big dose of extraordinary courage.

GET

G - Give it another shot. Whatever it is and however disappointing the results may have been, agree to taking one more step toward where you are going and being led. You don't have to agree to anything for a week from now - not today. Just agree to give it another day. Then we can talk again tomorrow.

E - Energize! Squeeze it out. Something is left in you and there is a power greater than you that can supply what is lacking. Stand to your feet and begin. There is one brush left in that bottle of toothpaste. There is one more sip in that glass of water. There is always something left. Spend it on the prize before you!

T - Tell someone that you are not quitting today, that you felt like it and that you were justified in it, and that it would have been the easiest and most practical thing for you - but you just aren't going to do it! You are going to keep moving forward,. When you tell it, you commit to it at a deeper level and you accumulate a team of supporters.

UP

U - Utilize every resource you can find, human, creative, practical, material, and emotional. Getting up from disappointment requires more of everything than starting from the beginning. Be creative. Be resourceful. Be assertive.

P - Pray. Now some of you, I know, don't believe in God or in prayer, but it will not hurt you to do it as an exercise. Your version might be a time of thought and reflection. For believers, it is that and more. As you pray, you will collect people and resources along with ideas and solutions. You will slow down your frantic thinking and sharpen your focus.

There are no guarantees that you will succeed in your venture or that I will in mine. What you will guarantee is that you woke up to another day and that you did not quit before the right time.

GET UP!

Underground Exlosions? How About These?

Information is exploding.

If we can avoid blowing up the planet, what will the planet be like before the end of our lives and that of our children?

The world is changing. Those who would live productively in this world need to at least be aware of these trends and prepared to embrace them.

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How Many (___)s Does it Take to Change a ... What?!!! Change?!!!

If we don't want change, all change is intimidating.

George Carlin said he put some money into one of those change machines and nothing happened.

Sometimes, I'd be happy to find a change machine that actually produced transformation in any number of areas of my life and community.

That is one of the appeals of the Jesus movement through history. Those who embrace it and proclaim it know it to be a message of transformation. The human side of transformation is a word that sounds like a Bible thumper's theme, "repentance." It calls forth memories of muggy nights, loud preaching, stern looks, and harsh threats to all who will not repent.

It really means "change" and the gospel writers paired it in the preaching of Jesus with the good news of God's Kingdom.

Why good news?

The good news is that, because there is a new regime and order of things with the coming of a new king, change is possible. It is mandated because it is no longer futile.

A man asked the Zen Buddhist merchant for change for a dollar and he replied, "All change comes from within."

True. It does. It comes from the indwelling presence of a power greater than ourselves who possesses power and personality and who deeply desires for us to come a be a part of His kingdom of joy.

In my church, we are going to be considering something not so original for the next few weeks - an extreme makeover - spiritual edition. We will start with the CORE of our lives - our spirits,  ignited to life by God's Spirit and radiating out into four dimensions of living: Community, Occupation, Resources, and Emotions (Yes, that spells, CORE).

Another key word is related to the construction of a life that is strong and resilient in the midst of the culture quakes, economic tornadoes, circumstantial floods, and faith explosions of our times. That word is STAND. To STAND, we must Shore up our foundations, Take a Team approach, Act purposefully, Name our resources, and Develop our souls.

That will take five weeks to consider and a lifetime to implement.

I wish you could be with us, but if not, think it over.

Change is possible and we can stand and withstand the onslaughts of overwhelming problems in uncertain times if we will develop from the CORE.

The Basics

Bob Burg is THE man to talk about networking through the development of relationships.

He practices what he preaches.

His integrity, interest in the other person, consistency, and likability engender trust and make people want to do business with him and hear what he has to say.

This is an article worth reading.

Offline, Online; It’s Still About The Basics

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Captive Christian Tribes, New "Nones," and a New Great Awakening

George Barna and Jim Wallis are introducing, at the same time, some stimulating reading and challenging thinking for the church to consider in these critical missional days. They have created an arena of discussion of what it means to be followers of Jesus in this century.

In Seven Faith Tribes: Who They Are, What They Believe, and Why They Matter, Barna seeks to categorize "religious America" into 7 groups. The church and Christians occupy the first two with a total of 82% of the population. Causal Christian are by far the largest group at 66%. Only 16% of Americans reported that they were "captive" Christians. Skeptics were not far behind with 11% of the polling.

So, while the culture is nominally Christian, the question of real discipleship and radical faith still dangles.

Barna suggests that "America's New Faith Tribes Hold the Key to National Restoration."

Barna is well liked by most Evangelicals. Not necessarily so, Jim Wallis of Sojourners. Kevin Lum recently set the stage for his book, "The Great Awakening," with a review of some recent Pew findings.

The New ‘Nones’ Aren’t Athiest–Just Unaffiliated - Kevin Lum - God’s Politics Blog

This is an interesting compliment to the Barna research. Lum's commentary on the Pew data has seemed true from my experience, from anecdotes, and from intuition for some time.

Once when the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Ghandi he asked him, "Mr. Ghandi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?"

Ghandi replied, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Lum says, "Young people are attracted to an authentic faith in Jesus, grounded in scripture that leads to social action."

Jim Wallis takes the subject to the next level of interpretation and application in "The Great Awakening."

Wallis has raised some ecclesiastical eyebrows in recent yours, but he is raising some important issues here. Namely, young people are looking to Jesus in a fresh way, directly from the scriptures. They are concluding that the Jesus of casual Christianity bears little resemblance to Jesus of Nazareth who walked among men in the first century and called for radical commitment and a lifestyle that defies norms and cannot be contained within existing formalized structures.

The implications for our politics may be something unexpected where neither party or camp can claim a corner on the loyalties of people of faith. The implications for the church are more profound and compelling.

There could be some head shaking, nay saying, and disheartened moods in rfesponse to these realities, but many will embrace them as opportunities to reconsider what is authentic and what is merely the traditions of men.

How David beats Goliath: When underdogs break the rules

When Vivek decided to coach his daughter's basketball team, he was often baffled by the way Americans played it. He thought it was mindless. Team A would score and then immediately retreat to its own end of the court. Team B would inbound the ball and dribble it back to where Team A was patiently waiting, and the process would perverse itself...

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Swine Flew

If swine flew then it would prove that pigs fly.

If pigs fly, then why oh why, can't I? (Sorry Dorothy)

Be not deceived, swine flu is a serious subject. Death and death plagues are tragic and we could easily be in serious trouble if we are not careful.

We eventually will have to encounter the "big one," just because of our growing resistance to antibiotics and any number of other factors which, to discuss intelligently, would be above my pay grade.

In my life, it has become obvious to me that pigs do fly - good pigs and bad pigs. Impossibilities turn to possibilities and then emerge as probabilities until one day, in the midst of our ongoing denial, they sneak up behind us, tap us on the shoulder and blast in our ear, "I'm here!"

We threw out this topic at a Toastmasters meeting yesterday with some table topic questions:

Is worldwide pandemic a flying pig scenario? If so, how do we respond? If not, how do we respond?

Have you ever seen a pig fly? What previously thought-to-be impossibilities have actually come to pass for you or around you?

What "pigs" in your life would you like to see fly? (in other words, what impossibilities would you like to see become possible)? What can you do to help them become possible?

You have heard the terms "worst case scenario" and "best case scenario." Choose a situation in your business environment that could go either way and describe your responses and the possible outcomes.

My friends did well with the subject and interjected some sobering and some inspiring ideas.

The reminder to me is that much exists outside of my understanding of what is possible. Worst case scenarios must be confronted and managed. More importantly, best case scenarios must be anticipated, imagined, and ushered into existence through faith, perseverance, creativity, and hard work.

If swine flew, then pigs fly.

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