He writes:

Being a game player is a fiction some people use to excuse themselves from working as hard as they should.  People who think they are game players are what coaches call “floaters.”  They float along on a cushion of talent or sheer physical size and strength.  They don’t see what all the fuss over concentration and work ethic is about until players of lesser talent start scoring in their face, quarter ofter quarter, simply because they are more in tune with their game…Eventually every team has to learn that excellence isn’t a destination.  It’s a process that must be continually improved (pp. 150-151).

Of course, NBA players and coaches are committed to excellence because they want to win a championship.  These can be good motives, but as followers of Christ, the motive that drives us to excellence should be a desire to please God.  The one who will give us our final reward.  Everything we do should be done with a conscious awareness of His presence, a realization that he is watching.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, Colossians 3:23

The Apostle Paul reflected that such awareness should prompt us, regardless of our field of endeavor, to “work at it with all [our] heart.” Men and women who follow Christ aren’t “floaters.”  They give their best effort all of the time, knowing that there is never a circumstance during which the one they follow is not with them, urging them on to their finest.

Are there situations in which you “float?”  If so, Why?

The reason that many successful people had mentors is that people destined to succeed ATTRACT all kings of people, including mentors.  They attract mentors, fans, followers, and even HATERS.  So the way to attract a mentor is to display those traits that will lead you to success anyway.  Like begets like.  Birds of a feather flock together.  Will a mentor lead you there?  Perhaps.  Will one help you in some smaller way?  No Doubt.

Here’s my advice: Don’t seek just ONE mentor.  Instead, focus on doing the things that might attract people, including mentors.  If you do find a mentor, make sure you include others.  Remember, mentors are people, people are fallible, and even gifted doctors misdiagnose.  Fortunately in many of those cases, the patient sought second and third opinions.  YOU SHOULD TOO!

Having just one mentor is overrated;
having several is not.

What do you think?  Do you agree or disagree?

FYI: I thinking about starting a mentoring group this Spring.  If you are interested and live in the greater Chicago area—please email me (urban.pastor@gmail.com) and I will outline the details for you.

No, we’re doing a media fast.  Like any kind of fast, this kind of cleansing is tough but the benefits are worth it.  David Lewis, who coined the phrase information fatigue syndrome, writes: “Information is supposed to speed the flow of commerce, but it often just clogs the pipes.”

The daily onslaught of news, entertainment, e-mail, advertisements, and other media often prevents us from being able to process any of it at all.  And the time we spend absorbing this information cuts heavily into the time we could be spending on activities that nourish us rather than drain us . . .

Research has shown that both news and television programming can have an intense effect on mood, even causing sadness and anxiety.  Without the “noise” of the media running through your head, you are freer to focus your attention inward.  Ideas will present themselves to you more readily, and you will find yourself available to revel in the small joys of your own life.  You also will be freer to live in the present moment, rather than focusing on what’s going on in the news or your favorite soap opera.

Media Fast:

A certain degree of discomfort accompanies all forms of cleansing—undergoing a media fast is never easy.  If the thought of going “media-free” for a few days sounds like an impossible feat, trust me; it isn’t.

During the media fast (Mon. – Wed. from 6pm – 12am):

1. Pray for the HEALTH & HEALING of Haiti (when the media tempts you)
2. Don’t read the newspaper, check your e-mail, or turn on the television or radio
3. No Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or other social media centers
4. No iPods, MP3 players, CD’s DVD’s
5. Don’t read any blogs, Web sites, or magazines

The Focus

As the fast comes to a close, ask yourself:

1. What do you notice about your ability to focus on your own train of thought?
2. What things come to mind that are normally drowned out by the sea of information that consumes your day?

Instead of using up the time you would normally be watching television by surfing the internet, give yourself a project or goal to accomplish during your normal TV time.  Read your Bible, Read that book you’ve always wanted to read.  If you need any suggestions, you can look here. You may get so much done that you’ll re-examine how much information one person really needs in a day!

Do you believe this is something you can accomplish?

Our leaders met this past Thursday to discuss and discern what God would have us to do corporately regarding the tragedy that rocked Haiti.  Although there are some conservative Christians labeling this as “God’s judgment,” we, however will take the high road & pray prayers bold enough to “WAKE… GOD UP.”   Please click the link for more information & join us!

MHBC Response to Haiti Tragedy 2010

What specifically will you do to respond to this tragedy?

So Who Are You?

Like every organization, every person has a dozen good stories that reveal that person.  Stories move people. Stories excite people. Stories change people.  Your task is to write your story – the true story.  Ask for input from someone who knows you well; someone who can give you perspective.  Start there.  Get help, if necessary, but do it TODAY!

What Do You Do?

Most banks (Pre-Mortgage Crisis Meltdown) almost always ask this question of organizations that come to them for money.  It’s a simple question, but the answers often are not.  You must answer simply, too.  Otherwise you will confuse people.  If it sounds like you do many things, or too many seemingly unrelated things, people will assume you cannot do any of them well.  Here’s an assignment: Ask and answer “What do you do?”  Show it to four people whose opinion you value and ask them:

1. Is it clear?
2. Is it simple?

What Difference You Are Making?

Can you describe what difference you are making in three sentences or less?  Are you ready for this challenge?  Marketers often refer to the necessity of defining one’s “point of difference.”  You must not merely answer what makes you different, but how what you do makes a difference for others.  Ask and answer “What difference am I making?”  Show it to four people whose opinion you value and demand they be ruthlessly tough with their answers.

There are other questions, too; I doubt this list is exhaustive.  But I think I have covered the major ones.

Question: What other life-changing questions do you currently ask?

People all over the country are choosing to move their money out of bigger banks and into smaller, community-oriented financial institutions that generally avoided the reckless investments and schemes that helped cause the financial crisis.

Fueled by the personal initiatives of thousands, it’s a grassroots effort that has the potential to shift power in the financial system away from Wall Street and to Our Street.  Keith Olbermann of MSNBC got behind the Move Your Money campaign on his show.  He believes: “It’s time to make those Too Big To Fail banks just a little bit smaller by moving your money to a local credit union or community bank.”

Stephanie Frost decided that she had been mistreated at her big bank for too long and enough is enough — she’s switching to a small financial institution.  She filmed herself going to close her account and posted the video to YouTube:

The Move Your Money Movement
…For the people, by the people…

Dr. Reynaldo Anderson, my fraternity brother posed this question on Facebook: What would happen if churches got behind this movement?  As I pondered that question, I estimate church goers give BILLIONS to their churches each year.

Additionally, I’m sure most of it is deposited into bailed-out banks – the same banks that refuse to lend to our members & their small businesses.  Imagine what would happen if Protestants, Catholics (net worth estimated @ $1 trillion or more), & all other religions were to band together and MOVE OUR MONEY!  I guarantee they’ll call us in for a congressional hearing.

Rey, I’m on it!

In order to make my resolutions stick, I decided to employ Michael Hyatt’s four strategies found here.  Therefore, let it be resolved:

1. That I will read through the entire Bible by December 31, 2010 using YouVersion’s Chronological plan as my guide (started Day 1 yesterday).
2. That I will lose fifteen pounds (current weight: 217) by exercising a minimum of 3 days per week with a minimum of 20 minutes of cardio during each exercise session.  I will accomplish this by July 30, 2010
3. That I will continue to resist the lure, draw, and undeniable seductiveness of late night unhealthy snacks like candy, soda, cookies, & other fattening foods and replace them with fruit.
4. That I will finish the first draft of my new book by June 30, 2010.
5. That I will write at least three posts per week on my personal blog, where I share my thoughts/ideas on leadership from an urban perspective and some general life musings.

So let it be noted.  So let it be done.  And please give me a swift kick in the rear end if you see me getting off track.

What are your goals & have you gone public with them?

I just started reading a book by Jim Collins (author of Good to Great) titled, How the Mighty Fall. Collins unveils several years’ worth of research on why great companies collapse. These are companies like Zenith, Circuit City, Bank of America, Merck, IBM, etc. They were at some point leaders in the industry and seemingly invincible, but they have all suffered horrendous falls. Collins says there are five stages of decline.

Here is an interesting quote:

“I’ve come to see institutional decline like a staged disease: harder to detect but easier to cure in the earlier stages, easier to detect but harder to cure in the later stages. An institution can look strong on the outside but already be sick on the inside, dangerously on the cusp of a precipitous fall.”

Here is what struck me in the first few chapters: stage 1 of decline is “”Hubris Born of Success”, i.e. pride. Collins is not writing from a Christian perspective, but his research states that great companies begin a skid to irrelevancy and death by pride. The insidious cocktail of entitlement and arrogance begins to course through the company’s veins and eventually seduces it into stage 2, and thus, the decline is well under way.

What is true for the organizations we work for and serve is also true about our own lives. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Or perhaps Proverbs 11:2, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” Lastly, Mark 7:20-22 says, “And he said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come…pride.”

Dictionary.com defines “pride” as, “a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.” The antidote for pride is humility. Humility is the root of any virtue and all graces flow from it. The purest form of humility was displayed in the life and death of Jesus Christ. The One who deserves all accolades and praise came to serve. The One who is esteemed above all else emptied himself and died on a cross (Phil. 2:1-11). He laid down his life for the proud, but then, our pride is what keeps us from seeing and savoring this.

Michael Moore’s next film, Capitalism – A Love Story explores the root causes of the global economic meltdown and takes a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what Moore has described as the biggest robbery in the history of this country – The massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions.

Personally, I can’t wait to see Michael’s new movie.  It’s time for people to stand up against greed and hypocrisy and let their voice be heard.  Thanks Michael for keeping the heat on!

We all have done things like starting a business with no business plan.  Quitting a regular and somewhat satisfying job to get back to our millionaire dreams.  For me decision making was always simple and fast.  “Just follow the heart.” I never cared to think if it was right or wrong and I don’t allow myself to regret past decision or choices.  This rule of thumb allowed me to make decisions which at times others thought were crazy and outrageous (at least I was happy).  Following your heart is like a roller-coaster ride and we can safely admit we enjoy it.

While it may not be specifically true, the heart has been considered the seat of our emotions. Within the heart is located a still, small, voice that some refer to as our conscience.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?  Jeremiah 17:9

According to Jeremiah 17:9, the heart serves as a metaphor for the human will and emotions.  The author describes it as deceitful; like a tortuous, uneven, and crooked bad road.  Furthermore, he describes it as desperately sick & medically incurable.  God makes it very clear why we sin – it’s a matter of the heart.

Our hearts have been inclined toward sin and from time we were born.  Therefore, it cannot be completely trusted.  The heart must be balanced with the head.   I no longer live by the mantra, “just follow your heart.”

Here’s why:

“Your heart can’t be trusted. The truth is, if you let it, your heart will direct you down a path that leads to the very spot you most want to avoid.”

Following our heart can take us on some good paths and some bad paths.  People say, “just follow your heart and it won’t lead you wrong.”  Well, sometime it will and sometime it won’t.  We all make decisions everyday.  Some we have to give a lot of thought and lots of prayer.  So, when someone says, “follow your heart,” that is not always the best thing to do.

So, what do I think of the statement: “follow your heart,” It’s a good statement if you have received a new heart and you are constantly filling it with the Word of God.  When we tell people to follow their heart, we must know what’s in their heart. Because out of a new heart will flow goodness and out of an old heart will flow evil.

If you follow your heart today, where will you be tomorrow?