February 2012
3 posts
3 tags
A survey mattered
Yesterday I posted about two businesses that acquired companies of which I am a customer. My emphasis was on the necessity to have sharpened focus when acquiring a new business due to the fact that the buying company’s name often is on the newly acquired business. Name alone means very little to consumers. We want our needs met. We want excellence. We care about the details. Details...
3 tags
Acquisition Apathy
Below is the blog as it was to go out. Being technologically challenged at times, I inadvertantly hit “publish” rather than “save draft” before it was completed. My apologies.
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When a company buys up another and places their name on the new acquisition, you would think they’d focus on...
September 2011
1 post
What would you have if you only had today what you were grateful for yesterday?
July 2011
1 post
“Vision without action is a daydream.
Action without vision is a nightmare.”
– Japanese Proverb
April 2011
3 posts
4 tags
They're all about numbers!
We’ve heard it from churches and individuals in the past and I am quite confident it isn’t the last time we’ll hear it: “Hope Community Church is all about the numbers.”
What our friends mean by this is Hope will do anything to get big. That all we want is more and more people so that we are deemed “successful” by others around us. That we want to be...
5 tags
Hope on the move?
Recently, Mike Lee, our senior pastor at Hope Community Church (www.gethope.net), Raleigh, NC, shared his vision about relocating the campus to the west Cary or northwest Cary area. Three very specific reasons for such a move are accessibility, visibility and, most importantly, expanding the kingdom’s influence to the most rapidly growing area in Wake County.
Mike’s desire is to see...
3 tags
Imagine...it isn't hard to do
Say the word imagine and in many people’s minds a song starts playing. It is John Lennon’s song, Imagine. A part of the lyrics go like this:
Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do
Say what you will about his philosophy or theology, Lennon had a goal in mind when he wrote:
I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will be as one
Lennon, for...
September 2010
3 posts
“Were we able to extract from any person a complete answer to the question,...”
– A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (taking liberty to change man to person)
4 tags
A Feast Fit for A Skeleton
Aldous Huxley was right when he said that we love the things that oppress us. Some of those things we love yet that have us in chains are anger, an unforgiving spirit, slander, and gossip. Certainly not an exhaustive list, but often the kinds of “respectable sins” with which we put up.
About anger I think Frederick Bruechner said it well:
Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is...
The Shortest Distance May Not Be the Best Distance
We all learned in math that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. While that works in mathematics, it doesn’t work when driving. Perhaps it would be better to say that the straightest way isn’t always the best way. On a vacation my wife and I took to Turks & Caicos several years ago, we took a rental car from our hotel to a conch farm on the other...
August 2010
3 posts
4 tags
On Practically Reflecting God in Life
One of the most startling sentences in the Bible is “Therefore be imitators of God, as dearly beloved children” (Ephesians 5:1; http://esv.to/Ep5.1). The apostle Paul doesn’t mince words when he calls Christ followers to mimic God. Paul doesn’t say this is for really mature believers. He didn’t say do it only if you really feel led to do it. Paul puts it in command...
ryan vet: →
The brake lights lit up in front of me. I slowed down. My car rolled to a stop. In front of me was a large silver pick-up truck that was several years old. The back bumper was plastered with political stickers and stickers proclaiming how wonderful the driver’s school-aged child performed on their…
1 tag
“Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene.”
– Arthur Christopher Benson
July 2010
30 posts
3 tags
First Love
To say I’ve been rescued by God means I have a new heart. The heart is where the intellect, emotions, and will coalesce into a holistic unity. If God has changed my heart then my mind, emotions and decisions ought to reflect my new heart which is fashioned after Christ’s.
How easy it is for my heart to leave its first love—Christ—and be fashioned after a framework of...
“You can choose to sin, but you can’t choose the kind nor extent of the...”
ryan vet: On your mark, get set, DRIVE! →
There is nothing quite like a road trip. Though traveling by plane to foreign lands is great, you are bound by where you take off and where you land. On a road trip, you can travel off the beaten path and make your trip so much more interesting—you can just get in your car and drive wherever you…
4 tags
The 4 Rs of Managing an Ineffective Team Member,...
The final “R” is by far the most difficult. It is release. At times it becomes necessary to release an employee, but it should only happen after you have gone through the previous three steps. Not only is it an effective management approach, but it is also fiscally responsible one. Consider the time and cost of hiring a new employee (travel, lodging, time spent pouring over...
Tim Keller on Ministry in Urban Centers →
Well-researched and thought-provoking article on culture and ministry.
Stirred Up Leadership: The Antidote for an Average... →
4 min video from Reveal’s Cally Parkinson talking about the real need for many churches is for their leaders to be “stirred up” before spiritual transformation will take place.
5 tags
The 4 Rs of Managing an Ineffective Team Member,...
Refocusing ineffective team members/employees is the third of the four Rs of which I’ve been writing. Once you’ve expended time and energy resourcing and retraining your employee with no success, it is time to refocus them. This means you will take the time necessary to find a place within your organization that his passions and talents can be used with effectiveness.
When you get...
5 tags
The 4 Rs of Managing an Ineffective Team Member,...
If a member of your team is ineffective, the very first step in helping her is to check to see if she is well resourced (see Part 1).
If you have a well-resourced team member who is still exhibiting signs of ineffectiveness, determine if he is lacking training. I have found many people in positions for which they need retrained. This can happen for several reasons.
Came to the position with...
4 tags
The 4 Rs of Managing an Ineffective Team Member,...
One of the most difficult tasks of leading or managing people is dealing with those members who, for a variety of possible reasons, are not pulling their weight at the office. Maybe they have a deficiency in a skill necessary for their job. It could be they never went through a proper onboarding experience and thus are uninformed or misinformed. Perhaps they have an attitudinal problem that is...
4 tags
The Secret of Strength - The Story of David...
I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to go up against the likes of John Cena. And that is probably a very wise choice on my part. In fact, I think it is downright prudent. But I would hope I would stand up to Cena or anyone else if it came to the matter of them hurting a loved one.
One day when I was a young boy I was out shooting hoops in my driveway when a neighborhood...
1 tag
Dealing with Conflict in the Workplace
The Right Way to Fight
10:03 AM Wednesday May 12, 2010 by Amy Gallo in Harvard Business Review Blog
Principles to Remember
Do:
Focus on shared goals and interests
Understand the nature of your disagreement before meeting with your coworker
Remain open to persuasion
Don’t:
Assume you fully understand your colleague’s perspective
Try to solve a disagreement over email
...
5 tags
You Man Enough?
“Give me a man…!“
These words were shouted to a group of men. How insulting! After all, they were all men in the audience.
Now I know if you were there (and if you are of the male persuasion) you would have been shouting back, “I’m the man!” Right? Cuz you’re a man! You’re a man’s man!! No one, and you mean no one, is going to shout...
“In matters of style, swim with the current; In matters of principle, stand like...”
– Thomas Jefferson
“Greedy gain brings pain!”
– Me
ryan vet: Thoughts on International Travel →
We are so privileged to live in a day in age where we can travel overseas and experience other cultures. I have had so many incredible opportunities as I have traveled abroad. I want to share this with you because I believe in soaking up every single moment when you travel overseas. Here…
5 tags
Despicable Me
While most of us don’t set out to be as bad as Gru—Despicable Me’s “bad” guy— wanted to be, we sometimes get the impression that we have arrived there by the way some Christians talk. I am always amazed when “worm” theology snags the intellect of an individual or a whole church. I’ve been at churches where everyone is seen through the grid of...
ryan vet: It Never Hurts to Ask →
For nearly as long as I can remember, my dad has said to me over and over again, “It never hurts to ask.” This mantra has been driven into my way of thinking.
The first time that I vividly remember putting this phrase to use was in kindergarten. I was spending the afternoon at work with my dad….
6 tags
Intentional Spiritual Development
There are several hundred people at our church going through Greg Ogden’s Discipleship Essentials. We have found that the best approach is to have groups consist of no more than four individuals. The reason is simply that the three factors below (also from Greg Ogden) are most effectively achieved in a smaller group.
Relational Transparency: Our willingness to become self-revealing...
6 Ways to Tell if Your Spiritual Life is... →
An inescapable truth in Scripture: Christianity is centered on relationship. Not ritual.
Is that to say ritual is meaningless and unimportant? Nope. But the moment the execution of proper ritual eclipses the pursuit of meaningful relationship with God and people, we’ve missed the mark.
So here are 6 ways to tell if your Christianity is more about ritual than relationship:
You talk...
Is Your Discipleship Heavy?
ormewords:
If our discipleship isn’t light—if it’s a burden—then something’s gone wrong. The yoke of Jesus isn’t heavy. That doesn’t mean it’s not hard; there’s a difference between light and hard. Discipleship requires hard things but discipleship, as in following Jesus, is never meant to weigh on our necks, it is meant to free us from the chains.
8 tags
Pimp My Palace
If you had the opportunity to build a house for God what would it be like? Would you give Him the best? Would you ensure the work was done by the most skilled craftsmen? Solomon sure did. Read 1 Kings 6 if you’re interested to learn more (http://www.esvstudybible.org/search?q=1+Kgs+6).
But what I want to call your attention to is what the narrator does in chapters 6 and 7 of 1 Kings. ...
6 tags
An Awesome Church
I mentioned in a previous blog how much I love what I do and where I do it. I work at Hope Community Church, Raleigh, NC (www.gethope.net)—the best church going! I have the supreme privilege of helping people take next steps in their spiritual journey. I can’t think of anything more rewarding than coming alongside someone to assist them in discovering where they are, where they want...
4 tags
I've Given in to Facebook
It is hard for me to admit, but I’ve given in to Facebook. Still not sure why. Perhaps it was the persistence of my sons. Maybe it is yet another attempt to ward of aging. Another possibility is that Gary Vaynerchuk (garyvaynerchuk.com; tv.winelibrary.com) made me think it was an indispensable tool in his book Crush It! (crushitbook.com). Most likely, it was a combination of all three!
3 tags
Just Cuz You Got It Doesn't Mean You Use It!
The Solomon Saga continues…
Wisdom, like muscles, has to be exercised to be of any use! For all of the wisdom Solomon possessed, he didn’t really get a good handle on this concept…well, practically anyway.
Let’s just clear something up at the outset: wisdom is not equal to obedience. Obedience is a volitional response to a declared standard or law. Wisdom, on the...
4 tags
Passion and Work
How many of you jump out of bed excited to head to work? How about not wanting to leave work? Probably not many of you! I am probably one of the lucky ones.
I love my job. I love the people at my job. I love the prospects of making a difference through what I do. How about you?
If you don’t love what you do, you probably shouldn’t be doing it! People who are not passionate...
4 tags
The Ascent into Greatness...and Lostness
A young man is not necessarily immature and an older man automatically mature. I’m certain we’ve all known young people who are incredibly capable emotionally, socially, and mentally and older folks who are nothing more than wrinkled children—emotionally, socially and mentally adolescent. The former is something to behold whereas the latter something that causes us to shutter.
...
ryan vet: Book Update →
As many of you know, my new book was scheduled to come out on August 2, 2010. That launch date is less than a month away. Though the book could be turned around and published by the original launch, I have decided to push it off a bit. I’ve had some great feedback from editors and from those those…
2 tags
Offered The World, But Wanted Wisdom
Well, was the guy dumb for asking for insight? I said at the close of my last blog that the answer is yes and no. I’d like to explore that a little bit here.
With good intentions, this man wanted insight/wisdom to lead a group of people who had had a history of being bullish, proud, easily swayed, and often disgruntled. A complaining lot quite actually. Who wouldn’t need insight...
3 tags
If I Were a Wise Man...!
Let’s say God gave you the typical “genie in the bottle” opportunity; you know, the I’ll give you anything you ask for kind of opportunity. What would you ask for? Stupid amounts of money? A beautiful woman/handsome man at your side? A bigger more luxurious house? A European sports car? That better position at work? Fill in the blank.
I read a story of a man that...
3 tags
Intentions and Outcome
I’ve found that most people have good intentions. And while such intentions are commendable, they don’t necessarily tell the story’s end. In fact, I have found that a person’s life often veers far from their desires. That is because intentions and desires only tell part of the story. The other and arguably more important part of the equation is what direction is a...
June 2010
2 posts
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is...”
– Jesus as recorded by Luke (16:10)
“Life is made up of little things. It is very rarely that an occasion is offered...”
– Charles Simmons