Can you make it happen???

Would you like to be a person you can make it happen?
Do you want to finish the project, win the race, complete the diet or set up a new company? Here are my thoughts on making it happen.
A great way to have all projects reach completion on time is by constantly keeping the end in mind. It doesn't matter what you want to do. They all should be approached the same way.
First, submit the process to the end result. Don't let the result ever be submitted to the process. In other words, visualize what the end will look like. Let your dream become a reality in your mind. If you cannot see what you want, you will be in danger of letting the process produce the results. This is why most people settle for less than they actually want.
This week I decided to change the lighting in the worship center and we also started a new worship series which required a new platform reset. I knew exactly what the end result was going to be before I lifted a finger to begin. By having a clear view of the end I was able to marshall resources, regulate time and produce production schedules that always seem to fit.
Winning sports figures never look at themselves as losers. They always visualize themselves in the winners circle.
Let me issue a disclaimer for all who now have diagnosed me as the ultimate control freak. Most leaders will tell you that they are always working to give away projects and ideas for others to complete. While this is true, most all of these same leaders when they started their leadership process had to hand pick and personally supervise the projects that were dear to them until the people who were around them understood the level of accomplishment they were looking for.
Let's say you have a large project to complete. In that case you have to clearly instill the vision you want into others involved so they can have the same mindset. Sometimes people are not able to visualize the final results. What then? Simply section off what they can visualize. Let them see what is their part. Make the tasks for them small enough so they can see it. When they are completed put their results into the larger picture. They will be amazed.
The last part of the process that insures success is by keeping the "whatever it takes" mindset. No job is to big or to little. You can never say " that's not my job" make every job your job and no detail is too small or to big to be considered. Do what others won't do. Refuse to quit even if everyone else wants to quit. Your goal as a leader is to do less and less of the details and more and more of the concept but keep in mind that people are always looking at what I call your "capacity for completion." If you cannot complete or motivate others to complete the project, your projects will always be less than you expect them to be.
You can have any goal you want if you keep these two basic principles in place.
just a thought...
Chris

When is prayer bad...

Yesterday I found a time that prayer did not work for me. I was in a group of men praying for the upcoming service and right in the middle of the prayer time I realized that the prayer being said, while well intentioned and perfectly valid were taking me totally away from the mindset God had given me to preach that morning. I was so distracted that I finally got up and left the prayer time so I could regroup my thoughts and regain my focus for the service. It made me think. Is there a time when prayer is not useful? Yes, I believe there is and here are a couple of the conditions.
First, prayer could be harmful when it is time to act. I think of the time when Joshua walked around the walls of Jerihco. On the seventh day God said that the time for prayer was over. It was time to shout. A time to act or in this case time for Him to act. Another time prayer can be trouble is when we pray presumptive prayers. This is when we create preconceived notions about what the answer needs to be inject our results as they are mandatory for God to follow. It always amazes me how some people only pray their solution during prayer time. Help John realize how wrong he is or let Liz get out of that relationship because he is no good for her. Presumptive prayers are popular. I just wonder just how biblical they are.
Just a thought...
Chris

The Truth

Went to the Truth project training this weekend. While the truth lessons we learned at the conference were good, they were hard pressed to compare with the life lessons we learned from the hotel stay Friday night. Here are a couple of truths I learned. First, don't believe all the reviews you read on the internet. The two and a half star hotel did not shine as bright in real life as it did online. Next, the truth of real world is everywhere. I could tell because one of our staff received an arbitrary call in the middle of the night from a call girl. What a stark contrast from singing Holy, Holy, Holy as we did at the end of each session at the conference. The last lesson was the greatest and best of all. It is always great to spend time with people who you care about. The location does not seem to matter when you are with good friends.
Thanks guys for laughs and the fun.
Chris

Hang On...

I almost fell off a roof when I was younger trying to retrieve a ball that had been hit up there during a game. To get down, I had to hang on to the edge of the roof and stretch my foot over to a porch three stories up. I don't know why, but the distance I had to stretch to get up to the roof seemed shorter than the one coming down. The problem was simple. Same roof, same porch, different perspectives. Looking down is always scarier than looking up. It is always that way when we are facing trouble with our relationships. What seemed like a small stretch coming up in our relationships has now become a near death experience looking back. How did we get here? What went wrong? He does this... She does that... These are all views from the top looking down to what is usually unsure footing.
The simple truth is this. As we go through the life of a relationship it will always take looking forward and not looking back. Keeping that upward focus enables you to have sure footing even when you are in way over your head. Just as I managed to get down off the roof, you will be able to survive your issues as long as you hand on and keep looking up...
just a thought...
Chris