Leadership, by its very nature, will produce stress. Whenever you seek to motivate people to change the way they think or live, stress will emerge. Whenever you make decisions that affect people’s lives, you will experience the stress of responsibility. Whenever you battle the forces of evil for the glory of God, stress will be a by-product of the battle. Stress is an unavoidable hazard that leaders cope with from time  they begin leading until they retire from such service. In fact, one of the characteristics of effective leaders is that they handle the stress and pressure they encounter as they fulfill their leadership obligations.

-George Barna, The Power of Team Leadership

I’m completely unplugging from my computer, blogging, email, social media, etc. for 11 days in order to deeply rest. Adios! See you when I return.

HT: Mark Buzzard

This workbook is meant to accompany Seth Godin’s new book, Poke the Box. I haven’t read the book, but my sense is that working through this short workbook would be as valuable as reading the book.

Download: PoketheBox_Workbook

PS. Note that the car is a Subaru. Every man should drive a Subaru.

Boston

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

-A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy.

Anyone else changed by this sentence?

The book continues:

The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God.

Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, “What comes into your mind when you think about God?” we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man. Were we able to know exactly what our most influential religious leaders think of God today, we might be able with some precision to foretell where the Church will stand tomorrow.

There is a better reason to be afraid of grace: grace has teeth. Grace has sharp teeth, teeth that leave a permanent mark on a man or a woman.

Grace will change you. You will still be you, but you will be a different you. The sharp teeth of grace will sink into you and rip away at cancerous flab you currently carry.

You shouldn’t be afraid of grace because it will lead to loose living. Toothless grace isn’t real grace. You should be afraid of grace because you’ll have toothmarks all over you, because you’ll never be the same. Grace leaves a permanent mark. Grace has teeth.

A brief life update:

As we’ve neared our move to Phoenix/the church plant something funny has happened. God, in his providence, has decisively redirected us to not move forward with those plans, he’s kept us in the Bay Area.

We are now excitedly revisiting and sorting out what God is calling us to next. More details on that in the near future…

Perhaps the guy who has always lived in “S” cities (Sacramento, Spokane, Santa Barbara, Saratoga, San Carlos) should’ve been wary about breaking the pattern to move to a “P” city.

Brody Buzzard is a playful 2-year-old with a mild case of autism. So it’s no surprise that his father Mark, principal of Liberty Bell Alarm & Home Theater in Sacramento, Calif., has taken an interest in home health technology.

As a Control4 dealer, Mark Buzzard has rigged an automation system specifically for the needs of Brody and his care takers – mom and dad.

“Autistic children are very visual,” says Buzzard. “Using a visual communication strategy really helps them understand what is happening next and what to expect. It relieves a lot of stress and creates stability for them.”