Can You Raise the Dead?

I often forget that the very Spirit that brought Jesus back from the dead lives inside of me. I reveal my forgetfulness through my actions, through my behaviors, through my thoughts. I live within my own power rather than allowing a stronger power control me.

I know that God is powerful, but I forget that same Powerful God decided to place his powerful Spirit within me. He is not far away; He has sealed my heart with His Holy Spirit.

It’s easy to say remember the source of your power, but today I remind you how powerful the power is within you! The same Spirit that brought Jesus back from the dead lives inside of you ready to bring life into the deadest parts of this world. 

I can’t raise the dead, but the Spirit that lives inside of my already has!

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” ~ Romans 8.11 (NLT)

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This one single act is enough…forever

Healed Heart

Romans 4.8 (NLT)

“Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”

It’s easy to forget that God has cleared us, forgiven us, of our sin. If God did nothing more for you than this one single act, you would still owe him praise all the days of your life. We serve a loving God. His lovingkindness lead to forgiveness. Our acceptance should lead to joy all the days of our lives.

What can we do to recover our joy and remember what God has done for us?

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The Day the World Didn’t End

Ooops... Maya missed the date.

Ooops… Maya missed the date.

Confession: I became a prepper at 6:o3 EST yesterday. I bought an extra bag of coffee just in case.

“Every man dies. Not every man really lives.” ~ Braveheart (View Here)

So the Maya were wrong. The world didn’t end. The preppers are pouting. The  zombie apocalypse folks are saddened. The religious have quoted Matthew 24.36 (except for the group that splintered from them that insisted they refer to  Mark 13.32 instead). The Maya were wrong, now what?

Can we return to our normal routines and pretend there is no end? Or do we wake up and realize there is always an end. That we are nothing more than grass that is here today and will wither away tomorrow?

Here’s to living each day in such a way that if today is the end, it’s OK!

 

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Learning is more than “Learning”

Learning is “the process of acquiring knowledge through experience which leads to a change in behavior.”  ~Andrrzej Huczynski and David Buchanan

The temptation is to believe that “learning” is nothing more than the acquiring of knowledge–like storing data on a flash drive. Under this paradigm, teaching is nothing more than the transfer of 1′s and 0′s from one head to another.

The student sits in class, the teacher does everything they can to try to get the 1′s and 0′s from their head to the student’s head. Exams prove the teacher’s success or the students failure through regurgitation. Yes, we all know that’s not “learning” that’s memorization.

True learning begs us to change. The (k)new knowledge declares we are different and demands we act different, we see different that everything is different. True learning changes behavior. That is why when we think of our favorite teachers, they were not the ones that shoved the most into our 1GB brains, but those that changed us.

So what can you do to keep “Learning”?

  1. Read books – but apply the lessons immediately
  2. Have friends – but be sure you create, maintain and build friends with other learners
  3. Unlearn assumptions – be sure to actively seek information that contradicts your views (this is the difference between learning and confirming)
  4. Teach others – nothing in the world makes you learn than preparing yourself to teach

Practice these four and you’ll find that you cannot help but be changed!

Quotes to keep you “learning”

  • “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” ~ Mark Twain
  • “I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” ~ President Abraham Lincoln
  • “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” ~ Marcel Proust
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Life Lessons from Gordon Dean

Life Lessons from Gordon Dean (Click Here for Full Article):

  • Never lose your capacity for enthusiasm.
  • Never lose your capacity for indignation.
  • Never judge people. Don’t type them too quickly. But in a pinch, never first assume that a man is bad; first assume that he is good and that, at worst, he is in the gray area between bad and good.
  • Never be impressed by wealth alone or thrown by poverty.
  • If you can’t be generous when it’s hard to be, you won’t be when it’s easy.
  • The greatest builder of confidence is the ability to do something–almost anything–well.
  • When confidence comes, then strive for humility; you aren’t as good as all that.
  • The way to become truly useful is to seek the best that other brains have to offer. Use them to supplement your own, and be prepared to give credit to them when they have helped.
  • The greatest tragedies in the world and personal events stem from misunderstandings. So communicate!

What would you add?

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What Google Thinks of Christians – Eye Opener

Now that we go to google for all of our answers, try this:

  • Go to www.google.com
  • Enter “Why are Christians so”
  • Reflect on the top searches

Those inside the church and those outside the church have polar perceptions in many cases.

Take it a step further:

  • Go to www.google.com
  • Enter “Why are Christians so A”
  • Reflect
  • Enter “Why are Christians so B”

How many negative images? How many positive images?

What can you do to change this?

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3 Tips to Clear & Control Email Chaos

I get too many emails! You?

Here are three rules to clear up the clutter and allow you to focus on your work.

  1. Get Rid of the CC email clutter. Because email is “free” people are too generous with the CC line. There’s some important stuff in there, but it’s not actionable. Create a folder, name it “CC,” then create a rule that moves all emails where your name is in the CC to that folder (I made one exception, my manager’s emails get through to me even if I’m CC’ed!). Review CC folder on a regular basis, but it’s not your bread and butter. If (and when) you get busted for not responding to a CC, please tell them your email management methods.
  2. Get Rid of the email subscription clutter. First step is obviously, unsubscribe to any useless email lists. But truthfully, you signed up for it because there’s a gem or two in there. Create a rule, name it something like “Read/Review,” and create a rule that moves emails from each specific email address dispatching the email. Add each email address and mind for your diamonds on weekends.
  3. Follow-up emails. I often email assigning work or asking for something. To create a trigger for follow-up, create a folder named “follow-up,” create a rule that moves emails from you and where your name is in the CC to move to the new “follow-up” folder. When you email someone an actionable item, add your name in the CC and a trigger will be automatically created in your new folder. A quick review of the folder will allow you to delete the fulfilled requests and forward a second request to the open items. (If you employ the CC, you may want to create an exception for emails coming from yourself).

Don’t complicate email, just use technology (rules) to clean up and filter out noise and potential distractions.

If you do not know how to create a rule, Google “Create a Rule in <insert your email program> (e.g., Outlook 2010)

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