Focus on Strength or Weakness?

Tonight, I was playing a game of Sudoku on my iPhone.  Actually, I've been playing this particular game for a couple of days off and on.  Usually, I can solve the "hard" games in less than half-an-hour.  But this particular one had me stuck.  I had lots of 6s, 7s, 8s, and 9s, but I just couldn't get the lower numbers.  No matter which way I looked (vertically, horizontally, within the boxes, etc.), I just couldn't located the missing 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s.

So finally tonight it dawned on me to look what 6s, 7s, 8s, & 9s I might be missing.  And sure enough, I found a 6 within a minute.  That led to another 6 (which completed all nine 6s), which led to the discovery of a couple of 7s, and then 8s, and then 9s, which then began to process where the missing 3s, and then some 5s, and then some 1s, and then some 4s, and on and on until the whole thing was solved.  I had been stuck for a couple of days (not that I had had much time to actually play), but suddenly I was done with the game in less than 5 minutes.  Rather than focus on what I didn't have (my weakness in the lower #s), I focused on what I did have (my strengths), and suddenly the game became easy.

In Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham suggests that people shouldn't spend the majority of their time trying to improve their weaknesses.  Rather, they should put the majority of their efforts into improving their God-given strengths.  Sure, we need to balance or shore up our weaknesses so that they aren't a detriment, but to spend the majority of our time on them is foolish.

No matter how hard I try, I will never be a good car mechanic.  I just don't have the knack for it.  Sure, I need to have some knowledge so that a mechanic isn't pulling one past me and ripping me off, but it would be a waste of time for me to go to mechanic's school.  But I do have a strength for learning, and so I can go and learn through reading and asking questions to find out what my car needs so that I'm getting the best service.  (Not the best example, but I think you know what I'm getting at)

What are your strengths?  And where are you spending the majority of your time?  Are you wasting your time looking for the missing 1s rather than leveraging the 9s you already have?

And now I need to end this post, and go exercise my strength of dunking and eating Oreos. :o)

Shout Outs

I want to give props to four young adults who are doing great things:

• First, my wife's cousin Kami has another article on Neue.  Without knowing who was the author, within a few sentences I suspected it might be Kami - and I was right!  Excellent article, Cuz!  Disconcerting and thought-provoking, but excellent nonetheless.
• Next, I want to point the spotlight on Jonathan Spaulding.  He has put together a WONDERFUL short film (starring a few friends of mine!) entitled Father, Who Art.  The film premieres on November 22 at 8:00 pm sharp (so arrive early) in the Activity Center of New Covenant.  I was honored to see the film beforehand and I was SOOO impressed.  And when it comes to film, music, art, etc., I don't hand out compliments like that easily.  Jonathan has done a fabulous job.  So put it on your calendar, cancel other plans if you have them, go see the film, be touched by it, and congratulate Jonathan on a job well done.  As I told Jonathan after seeing the complete film for the first time, I'm really proud of him, and I think you'll be impressed to.
• Last, I want to let everyone know about Randy and Heather Ransom.  I had the joy of having them in my small group one fall, and it was neat seeing them grow in their relationship with Christ.  But one day they announced that their jobs had been transferred to Dallas, and they left Iowa.  Last week, out of almost no where, this letter appeared in my mailbox at church - the Ransoms have quit their engineering jobs to make a difference in the country of Zambia!  They were willing to give up their incomes to go help orphans have a better life and find hope in Jesus Christ.  Way to go, Ransoms!  (Click this link and scroll to the bottom of the page to see Heather and Randy's pictures and read their bios)

It's encouraging to me as a young adult pastor to see young adults applying their faith, pointing people to Christ, and using their talents to advance the Kingdom.  If you have similar stories, I'd love to hear them!

It's been a long time...

...since I've rock and rolled... er, rather... posted.  My blog has probably been feeling quite lonely.  I've been having lots of thoughts and lots of activity, but either haven't had time to post or not quite sure how to share the thoughts I was having.  So finally the crowd of thoughts is rushing in, and the blog isn't so lonely for the moment...

• I helped out 2 days last week with Eight Days of Hope.  While I am extremely unhandy, it was a blast to help out.  In one home on Ellis Blvd. I helped rip out plumbing and old electrical wire that was still in the house 5 months after the flood (the photo here is from that home - you can see more photos on Facebook if you are one of my "friends") .  The next home (in Palo) I helped frame a bathroom, rip out old drywall screws, and do whatever they needed me to do so the rest of the team that actually knows what they are doing could do their job. :o)
• My friend and executive pastor, Kim Pagel, posted about each day of Eight Days of Hope.  Each post is worth reading. And if you click on each of the photos, you'll see some great photos of each day.
• So much work was done in just 8 days.  But not only physical work was completed.  Spiritual things happened as well.  At least two people we know of crossed the line of faith this week (they found the "Stairway to Heaven")!  And the couple that I got to help on Tuesday and Wednesday who hadn't darkened the door of a church in quite a while were at New Covenant this past Sunday! Kim said it well in his Day 6 post:

Who ever thought that people would come to Cedar Rapids from all corners of the United States with a common mission to bring hope and healing? Our city has been blessed, our lives have been enriched. Thank you for caring! Thank you for sharing! Thank you for coming!

• I was sharing with my best friend in Michigan over the phone about some of the work we were doing in the homes, and how we had to tear rotten wood out before we could begin framing the bathroom in the home in Palo.  He responded with a smile in his voice, "sounds like a song I've heard."  He was referring to a song I wrote 8 years ago in response to a prayer he had been praying.
• I played that song on Sunday, Oct 26th in all 4 services at New Covenant's 46th St. Campus and in the service at our Wash Campus on the 19th.  It fit really well with Bob Westfall's sermons from Romans 7.
• The chorus of the song is:

Take me apart

Remake my heart

I don't care what it costs

I just want to be like you

• I'll warn you - don't pray that prayer unless you are ready for God to rock your world! :o)
• I just heard another song today that rocked my world.  Here it is:

• Well, I slowly typed this as I watched election results tonight.  And now that Obama's been declared the winner (and my wife is asleep on my shoulder) I should head to bed.  I have more to share, but will do that at another time.
• And since I've slipped in a couple of Led Zeppelin references throughout this post, I'll end with one more...
  

All my love,

-E

God wins in Nebraska Court

I really hope for this guy's sake that God doesn't countersue...

Another Windows Jab from Apple...

A fellow Mac-user popped his head in my office earlier today and showed me an inside joke Apple has built into their OS.  With Apple's current operating system (10.5 aka Leopard), there is this really cool feature called "QuickLook".  While browsing in a Finder window, if you highlight a document or picture, you can hit the space bar which brings up the document or the picture so you can see it without opening the program that actually created the file - in other words, you can take a quick look at what is in the file.

By accident, my friend hit the space bar while highlighting one of the Windows computers on our church's network.  And what he saw made him laugh, and he had to share it with me.

What did he see?  A CRT monitor with the infamous Windows blue screen of death. :o)

The greatest challenge for Christians...

Today, the greatest challenge facing American evangelicals is not persecution from the world, but seduction by the world.

(quote by C.J. Mahaney in a Neue Ministry article entitled "Distinctiveness Lost" published in the Sept. 26, 2008 weekly email, which was an excerpt from his book entitled Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World)

Being Different

This past Sunday night I had the chance to be in the College Bible Study here at New Covenant.  As always, Linda Jenkins hit a homerun with the food.  This time it was crackers and cheese with pepperoni slices and grapes to add to the palate.

As I was eating my bunch of grapes, I realized I had one solo green grape in the middle of my red grape cluster.  How this cluster grew a green grape when the genetics of the plant should have grown a red grape, I have no idea.  We all thought this was slightly strange and amazing, so someone suggested I document the moment with a photo, so here it is untouched with this blog post.

I'm sure I could find some sort of deep theological or devotional truth to accompany such a photo, but I'll let you come up with that yourself. :o)  I'm sure Leeland would have liked to have seen this cluster since this one little grape seemed to be going the opposite way of it's siblings.

More grace and truth

As I blogged a while back, I preached about grace and truth on September 7th at New Covenant and September 14th at Encounter Christian Church.  I came across this great quotation on Bob Hyatt's blog which recalled to my mind some of the points I made during my message:

Personal transformation happens best in the context of a loving community that extends grace and truth. The Gospel of John proclaims 'The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.' Personal transformation happens best when the individual is offered a grace-filled environment. When Jesus encountered Thomas' doubt following his resurrection, He did not lash out in anger. He responded with grace (John 20:27). Judgment, criticism, guilt, or shame can produce short-term change, but meaningful, long-term, inside-out change is nurtured by grace. Creating an environment where an individual experiences acceptance in spite of failure allows personal transformation to take root.

Update on Cedar Rapids (Video)

One of the young adults here at New Covenant sent out an email with a link to a video by Metro Studios about Cedar Rapids, the flood of '08, and the current recovery.  I thought it was well done, conveyed some of the similar sentiments I shared on my blog about the flood and the response of the community, and gives people an idea that recovery is still ongoing (which is why I'm excited 8 Days of Hope is coming Oct. 26 - Nov. 2!  I encourage you to sign-up and come help, no matter where you live).

Enjoy the video!

What Not To Say About Your Mission Trip

While she is actually LeAnn's cousin, I like to think of Kami as my cousin, too.  I've always enjoyed the times I've gotten to chat with Kami and play card games with her at the Rice Reunions.  She's witty, independent, fun, and serious about Christ, and turns out she's not too bad at writing either.  Neue (formerly known at The Relevant Network - of which I've been part for the past 3 (or has it been 4?) years) is highlighting one of her articles, "What Not To Say About Your Mission Trip".

And I can say "I knew her when..."