Tagged With: growth
A Win Is A Win Unless Its A Loss
It was one of the most interesting questions I ever heard.
“So, what is a win for you?”
To be honest with you, it was interesting and dumb all the same time. Winning is just about the easiest thing to define on the planet isn’t it?
I have the most points, I win
I come in first, I win
I receive the applause, I win
I beat you, therefore I win
I know it’s fairly Neanderthal of me (all you men get it, right?), but isn’t that what winning is all about? Maybe it’s just caveman man of me, but if you put a mark in the “W” column, we just call that a win!
Still, that day sitting in the conference center when the speaker asked that question, “So, what is a win for you?”, I was intrigued.
They were making an argument that someone else’s win might not be your win. I’m not talking about that relativistic nonsense where it doesn’t matter what you think, what you believe or what you do so long as you’re happy doing it, then you’re a winner.
Turn off the Barney tape and quit singing that stupid song, even though it’s true, I do love you.
Continue reading
The Power of Mentoring
I have a nearly indescribable feeling that I would like to, well… describe to you.
I am refreshed, energized, challenged and at peace. If you don’t know much about we preacher types, that’s unusual for a Monday morning. In fact, I have preacher friends who have a ritual of writing their resignation letters every Monday, praying over them and then throwing them away.
I thank God I don’t get that kind of grief every weekend, or at least that I’m too thick in the head to notice it… please don’t point it out if I am. I’d like to stay blissfully unaware.
The reason for my Monday morning glee is that I just spent two plus hours with one of the two men I consider to be my mentors in life and ministry. In the course of that time we talked about what we have been reading, what we have been experiencing and what has us dumbfounded.
Funny, I talked the most during that last part… Continue reading
Keeping your tread depth for life
I am not mechanically inclined… at all.
That’s why I am extremely blessed to have friends who can fix stuff. I kind of have an unspoken deal with them; if they fix what’s broken around my place or in my car, I’ll conjugate any Greek verbs they need.
Seems to be working out really well for me so far.
It was even worse when I was younger. I remember being in high school and knowing very little about cars but thinking that they were trying to con me when they said I needed my tires aligned.
Sure, what’s next, am I low on blinker fluid?
Over the years, I’ve decided that a good tire alignment isn’t a bad deal.
In fact, the whole issue of alignment is a fantastic spiritual principle. So much of our lives are close, but just not quite there. You couldn’t see it by looking at it, but the unforeseen wear and tear on our lives and the unexpected reduction in performance let us know something is wrong. Continue reading
Punch you in the face
When was the last time you had your reflexes tested?
When you go to the doctor they take a nice little hammer thing and smack you. Even if they just tap you on the knee you usually want to punch him them in the face. Not that it really hurts, it’s just a reflex, right?
So, what is a reflex? In combining the best definitions I’ve seen it’s an “involuntary natural response to stimuli.”
I love the phenomenon of the reflex. It really shows you what you’re made of! Continue reading
PERFECTION!
Here’s a little thought on becoming perfect (not what you think).
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Continue reading
Don’t come up short
ere’s the process…
1. God plants a dream in you
2. Hope is you believing in what is yet unseen, and you go public with the dream
3. Faith gets you through the hard times as you trust the arm of the Lord is not too short
4. Reality comes when the dream arrives
Don’t bailout in any part of this process! Its too important to give up.
Numbers 11:23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you.”
Isaiah 59:1 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.
Isaiah 50:2 When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to ransom you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? Continue reading
I’m All Out Of Love
For those who are not geographically aware of this bloggers location, the following statement won’t mean much:
It’s State Fair time!
Living three blocks from the fairgrounds is a good or bad thing depending upon what you think of the fair.
The Addis from high atop the Weenie Wheel.
The Addis from high atop the Weenie Wheel.
I get most of my fair jollies just sitting on the front porch. Watching the parade of happy people walking to the fair early in the day as they park somewhere beyond my house.
And, then, I am blessed with the occasional treasure of seeing the exact same people coming back later that night… transformed.
Tired, broke, sun burnt or freezing (it’s Kansas, you know) and almost always “less happy.”
This people watching is a little thing I have learned to enjoy in the last seven years of living here in Hutch. I do it every year as I listen to the concerts from the comfort of my porch swing.
You know what else doesn’t change? The Fair!
That’s amazing to me. Continue reading
Deal With It…
Exactly 15 days after brain surgery… it’s time to blog. Thanks God for answered prayers, His love and compassion and my faith community’s support.
I decided to write this blog for three reasons:
Many people have been asking for an update on the physical well-being of this blogger
God has given me some new insight into a familiar passage through this experience, and personally I feel that being productive is healing
My medical authorities have given me permission to write despite the fact that I am well inside the “DO NOT WORK” time parameters, or more simply put Kathy said it was OK Continue reading
It’s Hero time!
I’ve spent this past Monday afternoon with a couple hundred grade schoolers here at Venue 302… yeah, day off!
Actually, it’s been fun. They are being rewarded for making their end of the year reading goals by getting the afternoon free from class and kicking back to watch a movie here at our facilities. So, with popcorn and cookies in hand these kiddos sat down to watch The Tale of Despereaux.
I had never seen it, kinda cute.
As the movie was getting underway and the plot was setting up, the ‘stinger’ line is given: “A hero never appears until the world needs one”.
Enter title character Despereaux.
A great little movie about bravery, hope and the little guy making it big. But, I started thinking about the premise.
Is it true? Do heros wait to appear when they are needed? Do circumstance create our saviors?
At first, there seems to be some Biblical support for this. Galatians chapter four says:
4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
Just looking at this verse it appears that God waited to send Jesus until we needed Him, but that can’t be right…
If that logic were correct then it would mean humans hadn’t pegged out the sin meter unil 2,000 years ago, and there was no need for a Savior until Jesus actually made the scene at the BC/AD split. Continue reading
CrossEyedLife
My name is Andy Addis and I want to welcome you to the CrossEyedLife. I pastor a multisite church and love to speak and teach around the country and occasionally around the world.
Please read, watch and listen throughout these posts and then, contribute. I'd love for you to be in the discussion. Many blessings and I look forward to hearing from you.
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