Strong Leaders Arise to the Top

A thought that I have been recently pondering is this: when it comes to leadership, time is either an amazing ally or an incredible enemy. I say this because time has the ability to reveal people for who they really are as leaders. Some people can for a short period of time portray themselves as a strong leader, yet as time passes it becomes harder and harder to maintain that image. When situation continually arise that are outside of their scope of leadership, followers overlook at first, but eventually start taking notice. Time does exactly the opposite for a true leader of what it does for the weak leader. As situations occur around true leaders, they perform and people notice. If the individual is a very strong leader, people slowly begin to realign themselves behind the leader. It is natural that individuals only align themselves behind stronger leaders than themselves. Only for particular purposes do strong leaders align themselves behind weaker leaders, yet for the most part, people with strong leadership abilities emerge as the top leader. This is why positional leadership can only give you a head start; it cannot sustain leadership.

Others

So I was sitting outside Friday enjoying the beautiful weather that complements the beautiful campus we have here at Regent. Part of me just wanted to simply sit here and soak it in. Do nothing but relax and let the warm rays of the sun just fall on my face. Another part of me was and still is bursting at the seems, feeling like I have so much being poured into me that I am about to burst. Part of that is because of the school work I currently have. Specifically I am working on a project that I really am looking forward to seeing the completed presentation. It is and will require a great amount of work, yet I am still excited about it. On a deeper level through, I feel that God is pouring something into me that I must begin to act upon. It all flows around one word that He put into my spirit in the fall of last year: people.

I feel that if somehow people can now see me as a people person, I still have so much to learn. When it comes to being an effective people person I still feel so inadequate at times. I know that there is so much that I can do to build up those around me. There are so many more ways that I can be investing into the lives of others so they can better become all that God has called them to be. I know that if I can spend my life investing into other people that I will have lived a life worth living. We take time to invest into education, working related trainings, and financial ventures, yet when was the last time we took time to intentionally invest into the lives of those around us? Almost a constant question in my mind is now, “How can I better invest my live into others?” I believe God is showing how to do that better.


“A life isn’t significant except for its impact on other lives.” - Jackie Robinson

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” - Albert Schweitzer



P.S. Tonight Wave is have the senior pastor of Hillsong London speak at 5 and 7 pm. He was AMAZING this morning!! Come tonight!!

The Call of Gold...or God?

In my life group last night, one of the guys read a quote from a book about the life of C.T. Studd. As it turned at, Studd was a missionary who served Christ for about ten years in China (1885-1894), 6 years in India (1900-1906), and then over twenty years in Africa (1910-1931)! You can read more about his life by clicking on this link. But I just wanted to share what my friend read to us:

“Five hundred millions of heathen have not yet been evangelized, so it is computed! Yet our great Missionary Societies have reached high water-mark, and if they have not already begun to retrench, are seriously thinking of doing so. Meanwhile, the heart of Asia, the heart of Africa, and well nigh the whole continent of south America, are untouched with the Gospel of Christ.”

“Last June at the mouth of the Congo there awaited a thousand prospectors, traders, merchants and gold seekers, waiting to rush into these regions as soon as the government opened the door to them, for rumor declared that there is an abundance of gold. If such men hear so loudly the call of gold and obey it, can it be that the ears of Christ’s soldiers are deaf to the call of God, and the cries of the dying souls of men? Are gamblers for gold so many, and gamblers for God so few?” (p. 139-140)

Oh MAN!! Doesn’t that just resonate deep within you! He went on to say more that was good, but this line stood out to me.

“Believing that further delay would be sinful, some of God’s insignificants and nobodies in particular, but trusting in our Omnipotent God, have decided on certain simple lines, according to the Book of God, to make a definite attempt to render the evangelization of the world an accomplished fact.” (p. 140)

An accomplished fact! When was the last time you and I thought of evangelism as something that could be definitively accomplished worldwide?! I pray we all view the calling God has put on each of us the way Studd viewed his as a missionary!


References

Grubb, N. (1935). C.T. Studd: Cricketer and pioneer. Atlantic City, N.J: The World-Wide Revival Prayer Movement.

I Will Go!

I just found an amazing new song. It is “I Will Go” by Starfield. It is just one of those songs that you want to (and I do) scream out as you drive your car. Actually based on the message of this song and some of their other new songs in their latest album, I think they have been recently influenced by Hillsong United…simply awesome. If you want to hear it, go to myspace.com/starfield

Drudge and The Prince

So I am angry and disappointed with the Drudge Report. For those of you who have been following the recent news, it was learned and reported that Prince Harry of England was on active duty in Afghanistan. As it has been reported, a small Australian magazine first reported on the story, then to be followed by Drudge. Now without greater information, I can only assume that it would have been a matter of time before others would have picked up on the Australian story, yet by Drudge posting the story his site, the world knew about the story in a matter of hours. It is possible that if he had not posted the story, Prince Harry could have been safely active for another week or so before they would have had to recall him as they have. But as it is, the British government felt that after Drudge had posted the story that they could no longer deny his presence there and or delay his immediate recall. Not only did posting that story endanger the life of Prince Harry by alerting the enemy to his presents, it endangered those serving with him. It also endanger the moral of a country had he been killed after that story’s release. It could have also damaged our relations with England had he died has a result of an American, Drudge’s, broadcasting to the world of Prince Harry’s service. Now I do not know all the circumstances surrounding Drudges release of the information, so I cannot say anything definitively. On its face though, it appears that Drudge put the safety of Prince Harry, his fellow comrades, and the pride on a country behind his “getting the scoop” on the story. It appears to have been a very unprincipled act on Drudges part and I am ashamed of it.


On another note, I commend Prince Harry for his willing to serve in his country's military on the front lines. I just wished we could have learned about it after he had finished his deployment.

Truth

So I have been randomly playing with creating some computer backgrounds that incorporate things that I am passionate about. There are several key words that carry significant value to me. One of those words is Truth. Striving towards truth and understanding it is a driving force in my life. If I must change my perspective in order to better see the truth of a matter, I want to change. If I must dig to find it, pass me a shovel. And if I must humble myself to express it, I desire to have the humility to do so. But in the process of working on this background, I came across these couple of verses which I want to describe me:

I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws.
I hold fast to your statutes, O Lord;
do not let me be put to shame. I run in
the path of your commands, for you have
set my heart free. - Psalms 119:30-32 (NIV).

I would recommend reading this chapter…it is simply wow.

Simply Amazing

This past week has been simply amazing. As I did last year, I went to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC.org). There I was surrounded in a sea of young men and women who want to advance the conservative ideas and principles I so deeply believe in. Though physically exhausting, it was mentally invigorating. I got to hear from Presidential candidates and the President himself. I got to network with people and be exposed to new ideas. But what I believe I enjoyed most about the weekend was that I learned that I have more friends back home who’s heart beats similarly to my own. They see a need to get involved politically and to be a light for justice and truth in an arena that far too often distorts these values. Despite whatever happens in the near elections, I have an optimism that God is at work in the long run and America’s best days are ahead of her. I will never stop fighting to point people to this future and to do ever I can to stand by my nation as it stands as a light of hope in a often dim world.

Here are some photos from the weekend: