“When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
-Mark 8:34

Most of us want to follow Jesus. But wanting is not enough. Following Jesus means to dramatically change the trajectory of your life. It means to submit to His thoughts, desires, and dreams.

Following Jesus feels unnatural. Counter-intuitive. Backwards. Difficult.

It affects time. Choices. Money. Relationships. Everything.

Nothing can be held back.

Marks of a true Follower:

1. Makes Jesus the Primary Relationship. (Puts Jesus 1st)
2. Follows Jesus No Matter the Cost (The agenda of Jesus is of Greatest Importance)
3. Commits Everything to Jesus (Whole Life belongs to God)

Being a follower of Jesus means giving Him permission to turn our world upside down, to get things right side up. While most of us want Jesus in the car while we travel the paths of life, we would rather stay firmly planted in the Driver’s seat.

But to truly follow Jesus, we must give Him the keys.

And we must trust that where He takes us is much better than we would go.

Who ever thought you could change the world by doing the dishes?

I write often about changing the world, influencing our generation, having a great dream & vision for life, etc in this space.

The world needs bold people willing to live a life of faith and adventure. But sometimes changing the world doesn’t happen through major things that make the news, it happens through the simple ways that we serve others.

As soon as I finish this post, I am going to do the dishes and clean the kitchen.

It may not sound exciting, but my wife thinks it’s awesome. By cleaning the kitchen and doing the dishes, I bring a joyful smile to my wife’s face.

With one small act, I change her world.

Today, “Do the Dishes” for someone.

It will change their world.

And yours too.

We can often find ourselves asking God for more of Him.

But I think God is asking for more of us.

More of our attention, more of our focus, more of our energy, more of our devotion.

We want more of God, God wants more of us.

When I give God more of me, I get more of Him.

Give thanks today. Thanks for what you have. Thanks for what you don’t have.

Thanks for what you’ve done. Thanks for what you haven’t done.

Thanks for who you are. Thanks for who you aren’t.

Thanks for what you know. Thanks for what you don’t know.

Thanks for another day, another chance, another moment to say yes to God.

Give thanks today.

And tomorrow too.

The funniest thing happened to me yesterday morning.

I was having breakfast with a friend at a local restaurant. I ordered orginal buttermilk pancakes with a side of potatos. My friend ordered pumpkin pancakes and hashbrowns. As has previously been mentioned here, I am a food traditionalist. I don’t like food surprises prefering things to stay regular and predictable. So when it comes to pancakes, I order original, and when it comes to syrup I want the ‘regular’ kind.

Well, after our food arrived I searched the different syrup containers and they were all ‘exotic’ flavors: strawberry, blueberry, apple, etc. I wanted regular. I waited until our waitress returned. I told her that I wanted “regular”.

She said we probably had “regular”, but it was in a bottle that was mislabled. She asked me to hand her the blueberry for her to check it.

I did.

Then to my complete surprise, she unscrewed the lid, put her nose in the syrup bottle and SNIFFED IT.

I was shocked.

I repeat, I was shocked.

She nodded her head, screwed the lid back on and handed it to me.

“It’s fine.”

Julian is even MORE shocked than before (and yes, I do realize I am speaking in the 3rd person!).

I paused and said, “(as politely as possible) You know, I am kind of a stickler when it comes to people putting their nose in something and sniffing food that I am ready to eat, so if it isn’t too much trouble, could you get me another one?”

She paused for a split second.

“Of course Hon (Yes she called me ‘Hon’!)”

Then she went to another table and got another one (and no she didn’t sniff it!).

My friend and I shook our heads in disbelief.

But it caused me to think of how awkward I felt because this lady committed such an awkward act. Her behavior put me on my heels where it almost seemed strange for me to say something to address it.

How many people would have shrugged it off, settled on strawberry, or had syrup-less pancakes because they were too afraid to confront?

Confrontation takes courage.

Confrontation can be awkward.

Confrontation can feel strange.

And though this is all true….

Confrontation is necessary.

As leaders & influencers, we can’t be afraid of it.

Watch the SNIFF.

“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.”
-Cherokee Proverb

I officiated a funeral yesterday.

Tears were shed, songs were sung, scriptures were read, old memories were recalled. It was a blessed day as we honored and celebrated the life of young father who had passed away.

I have attended many funerals, and officiated many more. They all have their own style, their own tone, their own personality.

But there something that each one has in common that gets me every time:

The Picture.

When I say the picture, I mean the picture placed on the front of the funeral program used to capture the deceased person’s essence. Who they were, how they were, a small snapshot of the life they lived. But that is not the reason this picture stands out to me or that it is so incredibly unique.

What makes this picture so different is that a person never poses for it. You don’t prepare for it. You don’t hire a photographer to take it. It is a mystery because you never know what picture will one day become that picture.

The truth is, you or I may have already taken the picture. Or maybe we haven’t.

We don’t know because that decision will be decided by others.

We won’t know which picture will be the picture, and we don’t know when it will be used.

Tomorrow isn’t promised.

Because tomorrow isn’t promised, let’s live today like it matters.

As leaders, we are instructed to pay attention to the “BIG things“. The BIG Idea, the BIG Picture, the BIG Vision, among other enormously BIG things. But sometimes the biggest things are the little things.

An encouraging email.

A funny text message.

A quick phone call.

A hospital visit.

A lunch you pay for.

A shoulder to cry on.

An ear to listen.

A thoughtful ‘Thank you’ note.

A 5 minute conversation.

BIG things are found in the little things.

Little things make a BIG difference.

Little investments become BIG returns.

And by doing the “little things”, we get to do the BIG things.

“Look how much you have grown!”

This was a statement always spoken with excitement, enthusiasm, and surprise. It was uttered by distant relatives, other family, long lost friends, and various people that hadn’t seen me for a while. As a child, I LOVED when they said those six simple little words.

I HAD grown. I WAS growing. I was getting TALLER.

Who knew how TALL I would get?

Unfortuantely, I didn’t get nearly as tall I would have liked, topping out at 5′11 & 3/4 (And yes, the 3/4 is important!). And because I am not growing any TALLER physically, I am much more careful and concerned with not growing WIDER!

But we CAN grow.

We CAN grow TALLER.

Not TALLER in physical stature, but we CAN grow.

We can grow TALLER in our character, TALLER in our leadership, TALLER in our integrity, TALLER in our skill set, TALLER in our experience, TALLER in our love, TALLER in our connection to God.

We can be TALLER.

We can GROW.

We don’t have to stop.

Not unless we want to.

The sad thing is, many of us have. Stopped reading, stopped writing, stopped drawing, stopped learning, stopped believing, stopped dreaming. Stopped growing.

And here we are.

But we CAN turn it around.

We can GROW again.

We just have to eat right.

Think right.

Believe right.

Act right.

After doing those things, one can’t help but to GROW right.

And when people see you, they will say, “Look how much you have grown!”

And you will smile because you are SO happy.

How do you get Employee of the Month at your job?

Work like God is watching.

Work like God owns the place.

Work like God is paying you.

Because He is.

Because He does.

Because He will.

And if where you work doesn’t have an ‘Employee of the Month’ award, don’t worry.

God does.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
-Colosians 3:23-24

Contentment.

Nice word. But what does it mean?

con⋅tent⋅ment  [kuhn-tent-muhnt]–noun
1. the state of being contented; satisfaction; ease of mind.
2. Archaic. the act of making contentedly satisfied.

Satisfaction. Ease of mind. Being content.

How many people do you know that are content? Almost everyone that you and I come in contact with (including us!), lives in a constant state of dis-contentment. Anxious. Stressed. Fully of envy. Complaining. Striving. Ambitious. Frustrated.

This constant need for more, for bigger, better, newer, brighter, and shinier subtracts from us. It diminishes our person, making us takers rather than givers. A dis-contented soul sees relationships as a means to something rather than a connection to someone.

But we can choose another path.

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.”
-1 Timothy 6:6

Being contended is simply being ourselves before God, thankful for who we are and what we have. We recognize we came into this world with nothing, and will leave it with nothing. With this perspective, we ignore the trivial and focus on what has true value.

Contentment adds to us. It gives us an advantage. It makes us people of substance and character. We gain hope, joy, peace, and a host of other blessings.

Contentment sets us free to live the life that God intended us to live.

Question: As you read this, is your heart content or discontented?

Tiffany buys our girls snacks and things to pack in their school lunches. A favorite are the lunch size bags of chips that come in different flavors. Doritos, Lays, Fritos, and Cheetos. These little bags are exclusively for the children (my wife reminds me of this often!), and not for their father. If the father eats the chips; the rationale is, there won’t be anything for the children to eat.

Well a couple of Saturdays ago I was watching college football, and I was in the mood for a tasty little something. Went through the cupboards. Graham Crackers, Apple Sauce, Yogurt, Apples and other nutritious snacks.

But I didn’t have an appetite for nutritious, I wanted something MORE.

Then I saw the big blue box box filled with tasty 3oz bags of chips. And Cheetos. I tried to turn away. I tried to get my mind off the 3oz packages of tasty fun.

I reminded myself of the fact that these snacks were exclusively purchased for the lunch needs of the Newman children. They weren’t for fathers. Just children. Not fathers. Just children. Not fathers. Just children. Not fathers. Just children.

I tried to turn away. I really did. But I couldn’t.

You see when I was a kid, we didn’t have chips like Dorritos and Cheetos in our lunches. We had Granny Goose (and if you have ever had Granny Goose, you understand what a huge drop-off in quality that was!).

So, I reasoned having a bag of Cheetos isn’t really a bad thing. All I am doing is experiencing something that as a child, I wasn’t able to experience. I mean, what is wrong with a man trying to make right what was wrong?

Is that a crime?

So I looked around, jammed my hand in the box and grabbed a 3oz bag of Cheetos. I ripped it open.

“Wow, these things are good!”, I thought.

I tried to savor it, but 3oz is well, 3oz. It was all over so quick. After thinking the situation over again, I decided that a man deserved more that just 3oz of cheesy delight. In truth, all I was doing was trying to make right what was years ago made wrong.

Is that a crime?

Well, unfortunately in my house it is. Because I didn’t stop at 3oz or 6oz.

Or 9oz.

I kept going. I kept going until all the cheesy little 3oz bags of orange colored excitement were gone.

Uh oh.

I was in trouble.

And I felt terrible.

My stomach was angry with me, and my wife would be too.

But it tasted, oh-so-good!

It got me thinking (after I was able to rub the cheesy dye off my finger-tips and explain what happened to both my wife and stomach!), how many times do you and I disregard wisdom and instruction just because something tastes good, feels good, or looks good even though (in most cases) we know it isn’t good?

How many times have we been desperately sorry because we couldn’t stay away from the Cheetos?

Word of Advice for all of us: Stay away from the Cheetos!