How's that for a title? I read an interesting short article from a man named Diego Rodriguez. He is a partner at a company called IDEO.
IDEO (pronounced “eye-dee-oh”) is an award-winning global design firm that takes a human-centered approach to helping organizations in the public and private sectors innovate and grow. They envision new companies and brands and design the products, services, spaces and interactive experiences which bring them to life. They help organizations build creative culture and the internal systems required to sustain innovation and launch new ventures.
Diego wrote the following, which I thought was insightful and helpful to churches.
“It is so important to have a strong point of view. Let me repeat: it is so important to have a strong point of view. You've got to stand for something.
If you don't have a point of view, you won't know what you don't stand for, and so you'll be tempted to try and do everything, because "no" won't be in your vocabulary. Trying to appeal to everyone by playing in the mushy middle not only will make you less appealing over the long haul (because being boring is not attractive), it also makes it very difficult to get started (because the enormity of the task makes everything too daunting to tackle), and makes it really tough to ship (because you have to do so much in order to meet the needs of so many people).
Having a point of view is incredibly liberating. It takes more energy and more time to get to an honest understanding of what you believe in, what you need to do, and what you won't do, but it is well and truly worth it.”
The mushy middle is no fun. Where there is no priority of purpose or strategy, folks will begin trying to pull towards their personal passions. People will polarize around their preferences.
Unity develops around strong vision. (Strong vision will make some people mad.) We think we’ll bring people together if we try to make everyone happy, but that tactic ultimately leads to dissension and division and in the end, nobody is really happy.
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I receive a daily blog from Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers. He posted a list of the top 100 Christian books of 2010. There were some new titles and some very old titles on that list. What books did you read in 2010 that you found helpful in your life?
I always enjoy picking up Max Lucado books. There are stories after stories about people who have made a difference or who have lived through difficult times and as a result of their faith, they saw life in a more positive light. In his newest book, Out Live Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference, Lucado takes us on a journey through the book of Acts in order to encourage all people to be difference makers.
This is a very easy to read book, with short chapters filled with stories about people who were and are difference makers. The basic premise of the book is how will people remember you after you are no longer present in this world? That’s a sobering question and Max exhorts the reader to be a person of action so that they do make a difference in this lifetime. His stories are gripping and add strength to the points he is trying to make.
Max provides questions at the back of the book to help the reader muse upon his writings. Overall this is not a deep, deep book, but it is one that should cause Christ followers to pause and consider if they will outlive their lives.
Folks this is what gives Christians a bad name. This guy and this church are idiots. You can read about this church in Florida where they are going to burn Qurans. Do I believe in the Quran? No! But I also don't believe in Mormon writings, Jehovah Witness Bibles, the philosophy which moves our country from writer Ayn Rand; but I'm not burning their books.
Sadly, incidents like this do more to hurt the movement and spirit of Christ followers, than ten good deeds.
Here is the link . . . http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/quran_burning
As we move through The Story, there are discussion and reflection questions for all 31 weeks. My goal is to send them out on a weekly basis so that you can use them to help you go deeper in scripture and deeper in your life with Christ. These don't necessarily represent where the message or Sunday School lessons will be heading, but are ways to help you move through scripture. Hopefully these are helpful.
As a reminder, this week's reading is from Genesis 1-4; 6-9.
PERSONAL DEVOTION QUESTIONS CHAPTER 1 - Genesis 1-4:6-9 The Beginning of Life as We Know It
Day 1
God created Eve because he felt that it was not good for Adam to be alone (p. 3). When have you felt most alone? How would your life be different if you were experiencing deep community? What might you do help someone else who is alone and isolated?
Adam and Eve hid from God because they felt shame and guilt. Both failed to accept responsibility for their sins and failures. Often, the first step to the healing and the restoring of relationships is to accept responsibility for our mistakes. What, if anything, do you need to own this week?
Adam and Eve’s disastrous decisions demonstrate our own inability to choose well between right and wrong. Describe a wrong choice you made, and how it affected your life. How has God helped you heal from that choice?
Day 2
Cain’s feelings of jealousy and hurt feelings led to Abel’s murder. Is there anyone in your family who you have hurt, or who has hurt you? What might you do to reconcile with this person? Identify a family relationship in your own life that is loving and secure. Share your thankfulness for that person with a note or phone call.
When God looked at the earth and saw that it was only evil all the time, He “regretted that he had made human beings, and His heart was deeply troubled.” Our hearts are often deeply troubled when we observe the horrors of this world. How might you respond to someone who asks how a good God could allow so much evil to take place?
Day 3
God pursued Adam and Eve after they had sinned. God pursued Cain even as Cain was steeped in anger. Describe a time in your own life that God sought you out. What happened? How did it deepen your relationship with God?
Noah is noted for being “righteous” and “blameless.” Are there any areas of your life that could be described this way? What areas of your life are most difficult to act righteously or blamelessly? Who do you know that could hold you accountable for these things?
It's finally here!!! Next Sunday we officially dive into The Story. If you're not familiar with what we're doing, we are moving through a condensed version of the Bible over the next 31 weeks, except for advent.
Sunday School classes for adults, teens and children will be going over the same scripture each week; and it will be the same scripture for the message.
We have sold so many copies of The Story Bible, which is a condensed version of the Bible. These Bibles are available at the church at 1/2 price for $7.50. I will try to send out weekly thoughts about what I'm reading and thinking about.
The beauty and power of what we will be doing is seeing how God is at work in our lives and how He sent Christ into the world for us is part of the overall story from the beginning. Stay tuned, and be ready for a dynamic series of messages.
Don't you love the title . . . Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn't Show Up the Way You Thought He Would?
From the start of this book, Pete Wilson had me hooked. We all have an expectation of how and when God will show up and rescue us from our difficult traumas. I could resonate with not only his situations, but his feelings about what happens when life does not go as we planned it to go. As a result, this book emerged; as Wilson covers those times when the path we were taking takes a detour and we find ourselves on a new path, and Plan A gets scrapped and Plan B has to come into play.
This book was easy to read, as Wilson used examples from his personal life and stories from the Bible to often demonstrate where Plan B came into play. The end result, is the reminder that we need to be focused on God and our relationship with Him. God is not our all-mighty ‘genie’ who gives us whatever we want, when we want it. At times the harsh reality of life comes out in this book. Overall, this book is worth reading and possibly a good book to hand to a friend who is struggling when life has not gone as planned.
In the end, the obvious answer is to turn to God, yet, Wilson would be the first to admit that God’s plan, which is always the right plan, is a mystery. It would be interesting to hear Wilson preach and talk to others, as he seems to have an empathetic tone in his writing. I highly recommend this book.
This book was received free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Blogger program.
Monday, July 19, 2010
I thought this was a very good video reminding us about creation . . .
I hope you were able to remember where God is at in your life today!
This post was written a few weeks ago by Pastor Mark Beeson. Mark is the Senior Pastor at Granger Community Church in Mishawaka. What are your thoughts.
Because I have children, andgrandchildren, I find myself thinking about how I can best help them understand the principles, morals and values of a Christ-centered life. I think about it a lot. I pray for wisdom. I study. I want the next generation to know how they can help God's Kingdom come, and God's will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. I want them to know what made America great. I want them to know how to make this world better.
You'd be correct if you assume I try to pay attention to what our President says and does. If the most powerful man on planet Earth (yeah, I know, other than Jesus) makes a Presidential Proclamation, it means all Americans should act accordingly. People should notice. Families should understand their President's wishes. Teachers should be able to explain them to their students.
When the president proclaims "National Sanctity of Human Life Day," elementary school teachers should explain to their students that life is sacred. All life is precious. And when the president proclaims "Martin Luther King Jr. Day," a Federal Holiday, grown-ups should explain the importance of Dr. King's great efforts to bring racial reconciliation to American society. Children should hear Dr. King's declaration that, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." And when our children learn of our president's proclamation of "National Child Abuse Prevention Month," we're responsible to explain that no child should ever suffer abuse from any adult - ever. It's up to parents, and pastors, and teachers, and youth leaders, and Grandmas to explain the meaning, intent and benefit of our President's Proclamations.
It's a privilege, and an honor, to help our children see the value of our President's Proclamations.
Can your child's teachers explain our President's Proclamation to your kids?
"What's the President's Proclamation about?" the 3rd Grader asks. "I don't get it." "Oh, Honey, that just means some boys like boys." "You mean like my brother and me? We're best friends!" "No. You're talking about brotherly love. This is about all Americans being proud of a different kind of love." "Oh. You mean like God's love? Like we learned about in church?" "No. This isn't about selfless love. It isn't about unconditional, self-sacrificing love." "Then, what are we supposed to be proud about this month?" "Well, this is about sexual desire and sexual love..."
(It's here in the conversation with an elementary school child I would find myself stumped. With other Presidential Proclamations I might have less difficulty, but this is where I don't think I know what to say to fresh-faced young Americans. I've thought about it, but I'm not sure my answer would help. I don't want to recommend homosexuality to my kids, much less take a whole month to publicly celebrate it with pride.)
What could I say? Should I say this? "I guess our President wants all Americans to take pride in the fact that in America anyone can have sex with anyone. If men satisfy their sexual desire for men, with men, that's fine. If women satisfy their sexual desire with women, that's fine too. And if they don't really know whether they are men, or women, since gender doesn't really matter, we can all take pride in the fact that they can have sex and it doesn't matter whether they're having sex with women or men. It's all about sexual release Sweetheart. It's all about satisfying any sexual desire you have. No rules. No limits. No old-fashioned injunctions restricting sexual freedom. Our president is leading America into the future. Isn't that nice?"
Not a single world religion endorses homosexuality as a source of community pride. Not one. Homosexuality is not allowed by Islam. Hinduism doesn't exalt it. The Dalai Lama, world-revered leader of millions of Buddhists and Nobel Peace Laureate, declared from a Buddhist point of view, lesbian and gay sex is generally considered sexual misconduct. Sexual intercourse between two men is forbidden by the Torah, and is a capital offense. In Orthodox Judaism, neither the Sifra, nor the Talmud, affirm homosexual acts. Confucians are expected to marry and have children; that is their responsibility to their ancestors and their country, so homosexuality is not praised in Confucianism. For the first 2,000 years of the Church, Christians did not declare homosexual behavior to be the best path for individuals, or society in general.
I will have to admit that Wiccans support the idea that acts of love, pleasure and beauty are sacred -- no matter which people happen to be participating -- so witches (not normally included in a list of major "world religions") are very accepting of homosexuality.
The President's Proclamation is suggested to be about justice and equal rights. Maybe it is. But it's about more than that. Much more. Read it. It's about the repeal of The Defense of Marriage Act (which makes explicit what has been understood under federal law for over 200 years; that a "marriage" is the legal union of a man and a woman as husband and wife, and a "spouse" is a husband or wife of the opposite sex). It's about more than the rights our Constitution guarantees all Americans. It's about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride.
Let me ask: Is lifting up a homosexual orientation, as a source of national pride, really helpful? Is this the pathway to becoming "a holy nation," or have we veered off course and - in the secularization of our lives - abandoned all true religion?
How about it?
1 Peter 2:9-10 - But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Pastor Michael now writing ~ Interesting and excellent comments by Pastor Mark Beeson. There are times in life when we need to focus on what is really important. The President is way off base on this. We should love everyone, not condemn anyone, but to endorse a month to celebrate sexual freedom, is more than we need. Your thoughts?
I found this article to be a great read regarding John Wooden. He recently died at the age of 99. He is considered the greatest college basketball coach ever and was vocal about his faith in Christ, using that whenever he could but in a gentle and loving manner.
The article below is from ESPN.com.
I thought it was a good and easy read.
Wooden set the bar hi
By Rick Reilly ESPN.com
Malcolm Emmons/US Presswire. Rick Reilly reflects on the late, legendary coach John Wooden.
The awful thing about knowing John Wooden was that when you left him, you realized how weak you were as a man.
Every time I left his little 700-square-foot condo in Encino, Calif., full of books and learning and morals, it would hit me how far short of him I fell.
He made me want to be more principled. This is a man who once turned down the Purdue head-coaching job because he felt the university was treating the fired coach "terribly. I wouldn't stand for it."
He once turned down the Minnesota job he and his wife, Nell, wanted -- and accepted the UCLA one instead -- because Minnesota hadn't called with its offer by the 6 p.m. deadline he'd set. Turns out a storm had knocked down the phone lines. Didn't matter. He went to UCLA and won the Bruins 10 NCAA titles. No other coach has won more than four.
He abhorred stardom and showmanship. He was against jerseys being retired at UCLA, even the one worn by Lewis Alcindor (later: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.) "What about the youngster who wore that number before Lewis? Didn't he contribute to the team?"
Last fall, Rick Reilly visited John Wooden at his condo in Encino.
One time I asked him, "How many championships do you think Kobe can win?"
"None," he said, flatly.
"None?"
"Kobe doesn't win championships. The Lakers win championships."
He made me want to be more humble. In the most self-obsessed city in the world -- Hollywood -- he was selfless. It only made him stand out even more, like a priest at a Chippendale's convention. He would hardly even get out of his chair during games. He and his blue eyes and his farm-boy haircut would just sit there and watch his toy spin. I asked him once what he thought about coaches in their Armani suits strutting up and down the entire game, coaching every dribble. "I don't understand it," he said. "What do they do in practice?"
He made me want to be more courageous. For instance, I'm terrified of dying. He used to laugh about it.
One of his favorite stories was about the time he took his great-granddaughter to get her ears pierced. She was 11. They drove home from the mall in his old 1989 Taurus -- "greatest car I ever had," he always said -- and she was practically unraveling with joy.
"Oh, Papa," she said. "I hope you live five more years so you can take me to get my license!"
He liked to kid about my occasional visits. "Last time I saw you [at 98], I was walking. This year, I'm in a wheelchair. At 100, I'll probably be on a stretcher." If only.
He made me wish I read more, thought more, listened more.
I started noticing something on my visits. The TV was never on. He was always reading. Poetry, history, the Bible. Never sports. Never novels. He knew hundreds of classic poems by heart. Yet when he found himself coaching a bookish 7-footer named Alcindor in 1966, he memorized the poems of Langston Hughes, the black modern poet. It didn't go unnoticed.
Wooden made me wish I read more, thought more, listened more. I started noticing something on my visits. The TV was never on. He was always reading. Poetry, history, the Bible.
He was a nut for Lincoln, yet not for a second did he realize he, himself, was sports' Lincoln, a boy who'd learned to read by the light of a coal lamp, a man of simple wisdom whose pithy nuggets of good advice -- "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can" -- will be quoted for the next 100 years.
Me? Great books stack up at my bedside while I watch "The Bachelorette."
Look, John Wooden wasn't perfect. He may have stopped swearing for good at 14, but he said plenty to refs. He'd put his head down and yell things at them into his program as they'd run by. "Their big fella is fouling Nater every time down! Why can't you see that?"
And it's not true he never drank. He did, at 22, with his Purdue teammates. He had a half a bottle of beer "and threw up six," he remembered. That was the last time.
He made plenty of mistakes. He let Alcindor score 60 points in his first collegiate game just to put fear in the rest of the Pac-10. "I'm ashamed of that," he once said.
He and Nell's relationship wasn't perfect. Once, when he was just out of college, they had a huge fight and he left. Started hitchhiking west. Didn't care where he went. Got as far as Lawrence, Kansas, where he got a job helping to build the football stadium. Then he went back home. "I just got a little confused," he said.
At UCLA, he didn't pay enough attention to realize a booster named Sam Gilbert was lavishing his players with gifts and cars. But I will punch any man in the mouth who says Wooden knew. He couldn't have known it or he'd have stopped it. He'd have sooner cut off his own hand than cheat.
He made me want to love more deeply.
He took me into his bedroom once, in 2000. The clocks were all wrong. He stopped them at the time of Nellie's death, 15 years before. Only one side of the bed was slept in, and above the sheet, not under them, and hadn't been since the day she died. On her pillow were hundreds of little letters in envelopes tied up in bundles by yellow ribbons. He wrote her every month telling her how much he loved her and what all the kids were doing. Did it right up until the last few months of his life, when his eyes stopped working.
"Coach, were you never tempted in all those years to go on a date?" I asked him once. "Didn't other women come flirting around after you?"
"Oh, yes," he said. "But there's no one else for me."
She'd been dead 24 years by then.
Once, when he was missing Nell terribly, one of his great-granddaughters -- she was 5 at the time -- saw how sad he was, tugged on his pants leg and said, "Papa, I know you miss Mama. So I'm going to rent you an airplane so you can fly up in the clouds and see her."
Here's to Coach for finally getting back with his girl -- no airplane necessary.
And here's to all of us striving to be half the person he was.
I am not a big sci-fi reader, however, The Last Christian was a book I had a difficult time putting down. Without giving the entire story away, just picture it is the year 2088, that’s right we’re working into the future. Christian America has ceased to exist, people are living life with amazing scientific discoveries, culminating in the ability to have neural implants put in their brains, and brain transplants, which enables them to live in a Virtual Reality (VR). The transplants can also lead to living forever and losing an opportunity for a relationship with God.
Because of these implants people can process information at lightening speed, they can read books in minutes and are able to communicate through a grid system. With all this going on in the world, Abby Caldwell revels in her work in Papua, New Guinea as a missionary. However, the people in her village which is a protected environment die of a mysterious illness, which she and a doctor friend cannot figure out.
Abby ultimately comes to the United States, stays with her sister, who has high political aspirations and doesn’t want her sister near her. The plot thickens with many twists and turns. It’s a fun book, but one that really points out some of the potential hazards of technology.
Abby comes across with a wonderful innocence which never gets lost, even though she is lost in becoming part of American society. She continually talks to people about God, with a powerful grace and childlike faith which is missing today.
This is not an easy to read, relaxing book. But . . . it was hard to put down at the same time.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - With the confidence of a coach and the passion of a preacher, Zach Lipson has spent much of his teenage years telling anyone he meets about his plans to join one of the nation's elite college basketball programs.
It didn't matter to him that he'd never played a minute of organized hoops. Or that he stood little chance of ever being more than 4 feet tall. He still gave the same speech to just about everyone he met, whether he was chatting at a dinner table full of strangers or sitting across from a skeptical guidance counselor.
He was born with a spinal deformity, so he already had overcome long odds. What was to stop this Nashville resident from proving people wrong once again?
Zachary Lipson's passion has him headed to Kentucky as part of the basketball program.
"It's an amazing story, pretty incredible," Lipson acknowledged. "Whenever you have a goal in life, there are always going to be some obstacles that try to stop you. There will be people who try to tell you, 'No, you can't do it.' But you can't let it beat you down."
Lipson's story proved inspirational enough to earn him a spot as a student-manager at Kentucky. He is expected to live at Wildcat Lodge - the same building that houses the players.
That represents a stunning turn of events for someone who has overcome more obstacles in his 19 years than most people face in their lives.
Lipson was born eight weeks premature and weighed less than 2 pounds. He required CPR in the delivery room. He has undergone more than 30 surgeries. And if that weren't enough to make him curse fate, Lipson also has a twin brother who is healthy. Lipson doesn't need to wonder what might have been: He has a walking reminder in his home.
Lipson has resisted the temptation of self-pity. He instead has faced every challenge with the same upbeat approach that has helped him serve as an inspiration to friends, family members and classmates. Kentucky's latest recruit won't develop into the next Tony Delk, but he just might become the next Tony Robbins.
"I wouldn't be the speaker I am today without my deformities," Lipson said. "I've used them to make myself a stronger human being. That's a very radical idea. That's how I want to be an inspiration to people.
"I want to tell people you don't have to fall and beat yourself up over your problems. You can take them and help them make you stronger. You can turn a losing situation into a winning situation."
Born to inspire
He wasn't always this upbeat. Lipson remembers being teased by grade-school classmates who didn't know any better, and he occasionally would look at his brother and wonder why he couldn't be blessed with a healthy body.
Former Vanderbilt star Drew Maddux calls Zachary Lipson a student assistant coach.
The turning point came when he was in first grade. Lipson, a devout Christian, had an epiphany. He was in a hospital room when he started to understand how he could make the most of his situation.
"I learned humility at that point in my life," Lipson said. "I realized my true purpose here on Earth is to share the gospel, to share my story and to be an inspiration to people."
That's when it dawned on Lipson that he wouldn't get to live an average life. He was being called to do much, much more. He would tell his story to anyone who would listen. He doesn't consider anyone a stranger.
"I noticed when we go to places, if we were sitting at a table, he'd end up not sitting at our table," said Lipson's mother, Susan. "He'd be sitting at a table with people who he didn't even know. He'd get to know them, talk to them, encourage them. They'd say, 'Wow, what an amazing story. I can't believe what he's been through.' "
He eventually found a way to spread his message through sports. Lipson grew up hating athletics because his health problems prevented him from playing organized sports or from joining his classmates in playground activities. His attitude changed after he took over as a student-manager for the football team at Christ Presbyterian Academy, the Nashville school he attends.
He caught on so well that he also became the student-manager for the basketball and soccer teams. And he made himself into the best manager a school could possibly have.
When a coach wanted him to do something during a game, Lipson would sprint to wherever he needed to be. He commanded such respect that CPA basketball coach Drew Maddux never called Lipson a manager and instead labeled him a "student assistant coach."
"He's like one of my sons," said Maddux, who played basketball for Vanderbilt from 1994-98. "I've really grown to love Zach."
Not only did Lipson perform the typical managerial responsibilities of fetching water and collecting equipment, he also gave locker-room speeches and even assisted Maddux in advance scouting.
Lipson's pep talks were so legendary in the Nashville high school ranks that officials at rival school David Lipscomb High asked him to give an inspirational speech to their entire student body.
Bleeding blue
Lipson fell in love with his manager jobs so much that he wanted to continue on what he considered the best and biggest stage of all - the University of Kentucky. But he considered this goal more than just a dream; he saw it as his destiny.
"People describe me as a passionate person," Lipson said. "I have such a love of life. What better basketball program than the University of Kentucky, which has so much tradition and passion? I think that's what was drawing me there."
Zachary Lipson has given some legendary pep talks in Nashville.
Lipson speaks with the authority of someone twice his age. He's a history enthusiast who has treasured the opportunity to visit more than 25 countries. He's teaching himself to read and write in Russian. How many other teenagers would discuss leadership by referring to Napoleon's attack in the Siege of Toulon?
But for all his obvious intelligence, Lipson still lacked the necessary grades and test scores to get into Kentucky as an out-of-state student. In fact, when he mentioned his goal to a college counselor, she indicated that wasn't a realistic possibility.
"She said he needed to look at Plan B," Susan Lipson said. "Well, there was no Plan B for him. I saw how he took his knuckles, gripped his chair and said, 'I will go to Kentucky.' "
Lipson did everything in his power to improve his grades. He spent his lunch hour studying in his school's locker room and took countless hours of ACT preparatory courses. All that extra work allowed him to qualify academically. Then, a remarkable chain of events brought his goal within reach.
Kentucky fired former coach Billy Gillispie after the 2008-09 season and replaced him with John Calipari, who in turn hired Martin Newton as the school's director of basketball operations. Maddux's father, Ray, and Newton's father, former Vanderbilt basketball coach and Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton, were friends and had helped found "The Rebounders," a club for former Vanderbilt basketball lettermen.
In addition, before being hired at Kentucky, Martin Newton had worked for Nike alongside Tim Thompson, a former Vanderbilt player and one of Maddux's closest friends.
Maddux used his connections to get Lipson an opportunity to work at Kentucky's basketball camps last summer. Lipson wasted no time making a name for himself with his work habits and his indefatigable spirit.
"I had never been to Lexington," Lipson said. "I didn't know anyone. I was a little ... not shy but a little afraid and nervous because I'd never been to the campus before. But I worked, helped out in the team camps and put my name out there."
Lipson apparently made quite an impact. Kentucky utilizes about six to eight student-managers each season and annually receives at least 50 applications for those positions. Lipson's application stood out.
"Zach's story is a unique one, not only because of what he's overcome in life but also because of his passion for Kentucky basketball," Newton said. "This is a young man who absolutely loves University of Kentucky basketball. He lives in Nashville. His mentor is Drew Maddux, a guy who played at Vanderbilt. Yet it never squelched his passion for Kentucky basketball.
"The combination of the type of person he is, the things he's overcome and his passion for Kentucky made it a really easy choice."
Student-managers are an integral part of just about every program across the country, but that's particularly true at Kentucky, where longtime equipment manager Bill Keightley played such a vital role that an honorary jersey in his name hangs from the Rupp Arena rafters.
The student-managers work the same hours as the players. They're present for team practices and weightlifting sessions as well as participating in more menial activities such as laundry duty.
Lipson is ready to perform these tasks to the best of his ability, but he also believes he can offer something extra. He wants to encourage Kentucky's players and his fellow classmates the same way he has inspired just about everyone else he has met.
"The biggest thing I'm looking forward to is working with people," Lipson said. "I feel like I'm going to be a big impact in their lives. I'm going to influence the way they think and look at things. I can show someone a positive influence.''
And if Calipari ever needs someone to help out with a pep talk, he won't have far to look. He need only turn to his new manager, who can go into painstaking detail on how various financial moguls made their fortunes or discuss the personal traits that caused Winston Churchill to succeed and Adolf Hitler to fail.
Better yet, he simply can tell the story about his improbable path to Lexington.
In their book Untamed, Alan and Debra Hirsch talk about a time when their small community of believers was building relationships with a group of prostitutes. They would knit clothes, provide food and more for these “working girls.” They write,
“Our intention with these women was ultimately for them to know Jesus. So we began to disciple them. Did they know we were doing that? Absolutely not—I doubt they would have come at all if they did. Rather, our discipling of them was to expose them to the values of the kingdom and the heart of Jesus for the outcast. These women knew that we were believers, but we never abused our relationship with them by imposing our views or inappropriately “evangelizing” them in the narrow understanding of this term. We exposed their hearts to the issues of injustice and serving others, and helped put the poor on their radar. Most of these women started as professional women concerned with becoming affluent, getting bigger and better homes, and living more comfortable lifestyles. Discipling for them meant that over time they began to look more like Jesus by embracing values that were more in line with the kingdom, and as this transformation began questions about God and Jesus started taking place.” (pg 148-149)
The authors contend that we make a mistake by keeping discipling limited to followers of Christ. It’s as though we consider everything pre-conversion as evangelism and everything post-conversion as discipleship. Yet they say, “Discipleship is not just for those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior—it’s for everyone! We believe it is a great mistake to restrict discipling to just Christians and keep it within the confines of the Christian community. We as believers are called to disciple everyone who comes into our orbit of influence.”
Interesting thoughts, yet, that's how we should be acting everyday. I call it lifestyle evangelism. Are you doing that? Do you even agree with their premise?
Obstacles Welcome is a great title for this easy to read leadership book, which also packed a good punch. Ralph de la Vega recounts his life story as he migrated to Florida from Cuba. He recalls the struggles, even the issues he had to deal with as a child and how they shaped him into the leader he is today.
de la Vega is the President and CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. He came to the United States without his parents and was raised by friends of his parents. Then after he settled into a new way of living life, his parents arrived in the United States and he had to help acclimate them.
This is an inspiring story about the decisions he had to make along the way to becoming the CEO of AT&T Mobility. While this is not a church leadership book, many of his principles are universal and can be applied personally or corporately.
There were many personal stories de la Vega told which were interesting to see how the corporate giant AT&T operated. He gives practical insight into how we went about making decisions, even when he was unsure about a situation, he walks you through his process.
I also liked this book because, unlike many books on leadership that tend to be all theory and not practicality (which is fine, to a point), de la Vega gives good, practical advice on creating actions plans, taking calulated risks, vision, recognition of obstacles as opportunities, unlearning "old-think", etc.
I would recommend this book to those who are interested in ways in which others face conflict, calculate risk in decision making, seek vision, and use obstacles as a means for opportunities in their personal, as well as business life. This was an encouraging book to read.
In their book 
