slow staccato sequences

delicate dichotomous

chords crescendo arch over

soaring emotions

soul gripping

gripped by Him

a quite fade

pacing slowly

one note

ever so slightly sings

is that the call

of hope in pursuit

slow staccato sequences

he shows

He's sovereign

still be still

don't wear me down
I know You're
watching over me
life is revived

its late but
not too late
it never is
You exist
always will and
I can't deny

another chapter
ends happily ever after

but it'll be
a long wait

lifes too real
my emotions reveal
still be still
rest in Your will

Spring Break Envy

One of these is not like the others:

1. Captivating white-sand beaches.
2. A cool breeze blowing across crystal clear water reflecting a cloudless blue sky above.
3. Scuba diving off a charted boat.
4. Sunbathing on the deck of a cruise ship.
5. Driving in the New Jersey rain in a 1997 Camry with a malfunctioning passenger side door.

I have Spring Break this week - this week being half over. The prevailing thought has been, "I'm wasting my Spring Break. I'm not on a beach or a cruise ship or doing something fun and exotic. And when I go back to school I'll officially have the most boring Spring Break story to tell - no story at all."

I thought:

• a week without warm-weathered fun is a wasted week
• a week without exotic travel is a wasted week
• a week without adventure and exploration is a wasted week

But tonight I realized:

• A week without Worship is a wasted week.

So as I drove in the New Jersey rain in a 1997 Camry, I sang...

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

Having Ideas Versus Having a Vision (HBR Blog Post)

Having Ideas Versus Having a Vision

9:35 AM Monday March 1, 2010
by Roberto Verganti

In the past decade, firms have been praised for ideas. Experts have celebrated the power of brainstorming and idea-generation techniques. Eureka light bulbs have populated the covers of many books. Businessmen have been asked to improve their creative attitudes. And 2009 was named the Year of Creativity and Innovation by the European Union.

One consequence of a decade focused on idea generation is ideas are now more easily accessible, which has also made idea generation less of a differentiator in competition than it has traditionally been. When more than 30% of the population belongs to the creative class, as Richard Florida suggested in his 2003 book The Rise of the Creative Class, ideas are not in short supply. And with the diffusion of open innovation processes, ideas competitions, and the like, executives are increasingly exposed to a wealth of ideas.

What is in short supply, I'm afraid, are visionary thinkers who will be capable of making sense of this abundance of stimuli — visionaries who will build the arenas to unleash the power of ideas and transform them into actions.

Could the next decade be the decade of vision building? If so, we will witness a significant shift in the way we think about innovation, creativity, and leadership. Popular studies of creativity have suggested that the fast generation of numerous ideas (the more, the better); in contrast, visionary leadership requires a relentless exploration of one direction (the deeper and more robust, the better). Idea generation values a neophyte perspective; vision building is based on research and deep understanding. To generate fresh ideas we have been told to think outside of the box and then jump back in; vision building destroys the box and builds a new one. It does not play with the existing paradigms; it changes them. Studies of idea generation have lingered on variety and divergence, but vision building is based on convergence, on bringing others onboard. Ideas are culturally neutral as long as they help solve problems; visions are intrinsically ideological and biased towards a clear aspiration of how the world should be: They strongly reflect the personal culture of the thinker.

I'm certainly not questioning the essential value of ideas. They will still ignite the innovation process. Tossing around a large number of ideas will still be important, especially for incremental improvements. It is not one or the other. It is a shift in the most rare and precious asset that will drive competitive advantage: visions. It's time for thought leaders to move beyond post-its and embrace a more advanced form of creativity. A radical form of think-action that somewhat resembles that of researchers and entrepreneurs fighting to implement their vision.

What do you think? Is it time to call for a new form of creativity? If last decade was the decade of idea generation, will the new one be the decade of vision building?

......................................

This article triggered an underlying concern I've had with regard to generational gaps and church leadership.

We peg the older generation as uncreative and status-quo huggers.

We, the younger crowd, then pride ourselves as creative and innovative, and experimental. But between those camps is a desert plain. We need leaders that can truly work in both camps and move things forward not just bridge understanding. And those leaders need not be in the middle (age-wise), but they must have the clarity of vision, skill, and determination to create the collaboration necessary for progess.

Holiness

"God's holiness is a dangerous thing..."

[ESV Study Bible Note on 1 Chronicles 13:7-12]

Tim Keller: Preaching the Gospel

Tim Keller Feb'09: Preaching the Gospel from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.

Sojourners

After graduating from college, I’ve had a semi-nomadic existence. The consulting life + ministry responsibilities will do that. For about 5 years, where I woke up Tuesday morning was a different place than where I went to bed Sunday night. I thought this was a modern phenomenon.

Of course, I was wrong.

Turns out, Abraham was quite the nomad himself. After the death of his wife, Sarah, Abraham makes an appeal to acquire a burying place, opening with these words…. “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you…” (Genesis 23:4)

The ESV Study Bible Notes: Abraham’s description of himself emphasizes his immigrant status. Even after 62 years of semi-nomadic existence in Canaan, Abraham has no permanent location to call his own. This is all the more noteworthy in light of God’s repeated promises to Abraham that his descendents will possess all the land of Canaan. The author of Hebrews develops the idea that Abraham chose to go on living in tents because he was looking forward to a city “whose designer and builder is God.”

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents…for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” Hebrews 11:8-10

When I was constantly traveling, sure I loved the constant change, but a deeper part of me wanted a place to call home. And though I would fly back every weekend, New Jersey still didn't quite feel like home.

My guess is that as we traverse this life, no matter how settled we get, we will still long for a place that truly feels like home...after all, we are all sojourners on this earth and our home is the city of God.