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What I discovered after one week off Facebook...

That I'm not as addicted to Facebook as what I first feared I might be.

That I didn't miss it.

That I didn't miss much of anything else either.

That there were a couple of times when I missed it but still don't know exactly what I missed about it.

That I could ask people things, with-no-one-sentence-take-all-the-suspense-away-foreknowledge, of what was coming.

That we all probably know far too much about each other, and therefore don't value that which we do know, or each other as highly as we should, because it is not because of trust we have acquired that knowledge.

That during the week there were five different instances where I thought 'I should Facebook that.'

That after each of these instances I found myself struggling with the question 'Why do I want the world to know that?'

That the world missed out on sharing in five different, very funny instances.

That the three friend requests awaiting me, were from people I didn't actually know.

That when I saw in my notifications that people had liked a post I'd written, I couldn't remember what that post was and had to check.

That I'm not a great fan of group mail messages.

That coming back after a week, to find everything has again totally changed about Facebook, it takes a massive effort to now just ask someone to be your friend.

That life still does exist outside of Facebook.

That I was surprised how much I didn't learn.

That I'm still really uncomfortable with the way (the channel of, not referring to the content on) Facebook totally contradicts a Biblical worldview.

The flatlands of perseverance

I heard the above phrase, from one of the speakers at Arrow, a leadership course I was accepted into 2 years ago, and have just graduated from...... It caught my attention because of it's truth!

So much about leadership, and life is played out on the flat lands of perseverance, of teeth gritted hard work, of pushing through frustrations and disappointments, of the necessity and ability to just keep on going regardless. I wanted to highlight this because those of you who are leaders, and have lead people for any significant amount of time, know how true this is.

You know what it means to lead when those you want to lead don't seem to want to follow, when encouragement is sparse, when difficulties and complexities are great, when self doubt seems to take hold of you.... but be encouraged! For it is in the flat lands of perseverance where you will grow a steely resilience to triumph in the face of adversity. Don't curse those times where your patience is tried, your resolve questioned, your thoughts of continuing challenged but cherish them as opportunities to push on, to persevere, and develop character that otherwise would not have the chance to grow.

 

The sabotaging of an idea

Every great idea, once born is carried by those early adopters. That's the group who think it's a winner the second they hear it, who commit after that first mention, who understand it and know to the core of their being that everyone needs to join in with it. So a strategy is formed, action is taken and the journey begins.

It's into this situation that Scott Belsky says "The worst thing that can happen when you are working through the strategy of executing a plan, is a new idea." The reason for him saying this is the group who are most likely to get behind an idea as it is birthed, are also the same group who will chase the next great idea, which happens at the cost of the first idea, and it's strategy execution.

If you identify the truth of this, in part of your leadership practice, then don't allow the next great idea to sabotage the strategies, focus and drive that is already in place for a previously great idea. If you do this you will actually not just sabotage the idea, but also your own leadership. This happens because you become the person who vases the next best idea or fad, but fails to follow through on anything. This only leads to one place; you will sabotage the trust people put in your leadership, and they won't follow you because you're not committed to anything. In other words you won't be able to become an influencer or people.

Make Poverty Personal - Jon Owen

Have a listen in to Jon Owen from UNOH speak to our Young Adult community about what it means to make poverty personal! You can listen here.

If you're interesting in more of what Jon has to say have a look here.

The current famine situation in Somalia

A few weeks ago I went out to lunch with a friend, this was no surprise but the topic of conversation that day was to be! Across the table from me Ryan began to speak of this little mentioned country called Somalia. He shared with me a glimpse of the current state of affairs and how tragic and desperate the situation is.

Somalia and surrounding countries including Ethiopia and Kenya are currently suffering the worst drought in 60 years. This drought has pushed five (to date) regions of Somalia into famine. Famine is defined by the UN as 1 death per 5000 people per day from starvation. The current situation is the single greatest humanitarian crisis that the world has experienced in approximately 20 years and Africa's worst food security crisis since Somalia's 1991-92 famine. There are currently 12 million people at risk of starvation according to UN figures. That's almost half the population of Australia!

Right now across Somalia and parts of Kenya and Ethiopia there are 3.2 million people on the brink of starvation, with 12.4 million in the region malnourished and at risk of starvation. The famine has been described as 'The Children’s famine' due to the number of children that are starving to death every day. More than 29,000 children under the age of 5 have starved to death in the last 90 days in southern Somalia alone. The roads leading south out of Somalia into Kenya have been described as 'roads of death' as parents are forced to abandon their dead or dying children along the road side as they flee their homes in search of food.

The world however has refused to be deaf to the needs of these Africans and to date 1.3 $billion has been donated from across the globe. For this situation to be reversed a further 1.2 $billion is needed. That sounds like a lot of money right, but let’s put it into perspective for a second. Last year, Australia spent just under 1 $billion on weight loss. In 2010 the U.S. spent 61 $billion on weight loss! These figures are staggering and don't take into account the amount of extra money that was poured into the overeating that makes weight loss necessary.

Currently in Somalia there are mothers who aren’t getting enough food for their bodies, the result of which means they are unable to produce breast milk, and so their own babies are starving to death in their arms. Families are having to up leave their homes to try to find something to eat meaning parents are left to watch their children starve to death as they head out in an attempt to find food. This is happening right now, at the same time that we’re battling obesity and overconsumption.

Something is seriously wrong. The distribution of wealth in this world is so severely skewed in our western favour. We live the lives that we do here in Australia simply because this is where we entered the world. We were born into wealth and affluence. Had we have been born in Somalia, we would most likely find ourselves desperately searching for something to eat right now and trying to figure out how we might be able to keep our families alive.

To respond to this tragedy doesn't require money. It requires love! It requires people to listen to these stories, research the facts, examine the photos and let them break your heart. We have to let this situation, or other situations of poverty, and death, and hopelessness break our hearts, because when it does then we will see change begin to occur.

Throughout the New Testament Jesus repeatedly calls for us to give to the poor. But only according to a constant theme and consistency that always our response needs to be motivated by love, not fear or guilt or regret or obligation or even affluence. The key has always been love. Our attitude towards giving has to be an attitude of love or it’s meaningless. 1 Corinthians 13:3 says that if I give ALL I possess to the poor... but do not have love, I gain nothing, and neither does this world. But if we allow this situation to move us, to touch our heart's, then a movement is born and transformation can begin!

It was this knowledge that resonated not just in Ryan's spirit, but mine as he shared this situation over lunch, that demanded we do something. So we did! We called our mates, invited them over for a party, told them about the situation and invited them to give if they wanted. The result blew us away, as we tallied a total of more than $3000 from the 60 - 80 people who came, and friends they told. That money we gave directly to World Vision’s 'East Africa Emergency Appeal'. We decided to give to World Vision because they’re one of the few charities that are actually on the ground operating within the region.

I write this so that you too might be stirred, not just to respond financially but to point others to this information, to speak to your friends of the current state of affairs, to pray, to lobby governments, to go and see, but most importantly to love, people who are just like you and I, but do not have the privileges we do!

If you want to read some more on the situation check out the links below. I'd also like to say a huge thank you to Ryan Henry, who made not just the event happen, but helped me and consequently you become aware.

Article 1 Article 2 Article 3 Article 4 Articles 5

 

 

 

There's no such thing as being too busy!

Ever feel too busy? 
Ever find yourself feeling like you have no time left for the important stuff, or things you would like to do? 
Ever wish you had more time? 

Then you're too busy!

Actually you're not! There is no such thing as being too busy! It's true!

What you are suffering from is priority syndrome. The things you are too busy to get to, are simply not a priority for you. You may want them to be but they aren't. That work project you never seem to get to, but really need to do, doesn't get done because there are other things that take priority. Spending time with that friend who you've been meaning to catch up with but never seem to get around to calling, is likely because you have more important priorities. That uni work, you keep putting off... you get the picture!

Often, however, we don't get to the things we wish we could or would love to get to, because our outlook is immersed in the plea of the instant! We don't do the stuff we want or need to do because we allow ourselves to be victims of what we feel like or don't feel like doing now. We convince ourselves there's not enough time, and then use that as an excuse to get off the hook.

Everyone I know who lives like this, doesn't like it because life feels out of control, really great opportunities can be missed, and long term commitments and aspirations are challenged and sometimes not fulfilled.

If this is you, stop thinking this way. Start thinking priorities! What do you want to do that is so important you really can't afford not to do it? What do you really need to do well at, at the cost of everything else? What things would you love to get to? Prioritize them right now. Then assign a time to do it. Do this when you have the space, and fit the lesser important things around it. If you don't have the space, then prioritise that right now! Don't be a victim of your time, be a master of it! What you'll find is that you will streamline your time, you'll become more productive, you'll achieve more, you'll not feel guilty resting and taking a break, but most significantly you'll get done the things you wish you could! That's time management. That's how you manage your time better!

Are you dissatisfied with your Church?

Listening to Toby Hall, CEO of Mission Australia, and one of the top 20 CEOs in the country, he mentioned something that spoke very loudly to me, that I wanted to expand upon here. So the following are our thoughts...

Have you ever considered that your church satisfaction is intricately tied to your love for God, and your love for God is intricately tied to your love for people. If you are finding that you are dissatisfied with Church, it may be time to ask yourself 'How in love are you with God? And how do you know?' Maybe the outworking of those questions will lead you to a place of realizing that you need become more in love with God..

And... If you truly want to experience loving God, you have to intentionally step into loving others!

Are you good at following Jesus?

How do you judge the effectiveness of your life as a disciple? I put it to you that too often we are drawn to rate ourselves against the law. Am I a good person? Am I doing everything that the Bible says to do? Am I upsetting God?

But I'm not sure that God wants us to be like that. The goal of what God is doing in the world and in our lives is not to conform us to his law, but in fact to see us bear the fruit of his grace, love, power and purpose. If this is true then the real question we need to be wrestling with is, what is the fruit of my life? What is the result of that belief I hold and does it benefit others? What is the fruit of that descision I've made and how does it affect others?

We make descisions everyday, and those descisions bear fruit. Is that fruit healthy, helpful, nutritious fruit or is that fruit rotten, off and damaging fruit to us and/or others?

What is the fruit of the gospel in your life?

Spiritual Strength Sucks!

I never feel spiritually strong! Its a strange idea really. I have friends who speak of being spiritually strong, plugged into God, moving in God's power, speaking on God's behalf, etc. This is wonderful but it's loaded with a vicious downside! That you can feel spiritually weak. That looks like this: Im not close to God, God cannot use me in the state I'm in, I'm not holy enough, there is no reason for God to use me. Its vicious because both sides of this approach put too much work on you, and not enough work on the grace of God.

We are not saved by our works, and we're certainly not used by God because of them, or lack of them.

 

We are used because God loves us! We are able to be used because of God's grace! for me I never feel soiritual strong or weak, I just try and find myself in Christ. Safest most empowered place to be I find! You should try it!

 

Wrestling with Peace

I found myself before God the other day with an issue that was heavy on my heart! After reading some Scripture and praying about it I found the angst I had surrounding the issue was gone. Replaced with peace.

This felt so strange! I found myself wrestling with peace! Why do I deserve peace over this issue? How on earth is it even possible that I find peace? Will it last?

As I reflected back on this, I came to the conclusion that I would prefer to wrestle with peace over anxiety any day, and that God would grant me peace, confuses and thrills me simultaneously! Those who profess Christianity follow the Prince of Peace, so know that he desires and will bring peace to the anxieties you have, if you move toward him with your burdens!