i wanna be that guy

(and no, i don't wanna be Truett Cathy... not that guy.)

yesterday i wrote something i've been thinking about for a while. a KEY to seeing success in a mission is NOT CARING WHO GETS THE CREDIT! you can read that HERE.

then last night i was reading over some old Drive Conference 2010 thoughts i posted last year. i just stumbled on this awesome quote from Mr. Chic-Fil-A himself in one of those posts [HERE].
i wrote my article without thinking about this quote, but Truett is pretty much saying the same thing:

"There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't care who gets the credit." - Truett Cathy

i want to be that man! (that's what i wrote in my notebook...i wanna be that guy!) i want to be that man who doesn't care who gets the credit!
can you imagine? NO LIMIT!!!

i will work hard like crazy. i will do all kinds of stuff to advance the mission. i will do everything i can to make a lot of great things happen. i want to be a part of changing the world.

but as long as it happens i really don't care if anyone knows it was me that made it happen.

how much time would i waste making sure someone else knows what i did so i could get the credit? 5 minutes? that's 5 minutes too many to be wasted on that.
credit? really? who cares?

it's ALL ABOUT the mission.

don't care who gets the credit

you can learn something from watching soccer. many times a goal scorer did nothing more than receive the gift of a beautiful ball delivered to him on a silver platter. the play maker did all the work and made the goal happen. who gets all the credit and praise? of course... the goal scorer.

i have learned that success for a mission is largely dependent on something that's counter intuitive to our human nature.

it's called don't care who gets the credit!

it's natural to want the credit, recognition, praise, honor for whatever you did to help achieve success for the mission.

but for me, it's all about the mission. who cares who gets the credit? who even has time to worry about that? there's too much to do - we're on a mission!

i've learned by watching some great leaders that success is all about setting others up to be successful. the greatest leaders want success so bad for the next generation of leaders. and they are comfortable with the fact that no one will ever know that most of that success traced back to their efforts.

*i desperately want to have this same attitude throughout my lifetime.

unfortunately most leaders are more concerned with being personally known as great. So they intentionally or unintentionally set up the next generation to fail.  They think that's a great testament to them as leaders - if it all fell apart after they left.

but that's the opposite of a great leader. that's horrible leadership if it all falls apart when the leader leaves.

These kind of leaders can see great success for a mission, but after they leave it all fails.

i am passionate about the mission i'm a part of and will always be a part of. i want to contribute and see a TON of success in this mission, but i really don't care if i get the credit or the praise.

i CAN'T care who gets the credit! i think a lot of our success depends on having leaders and teams who are cool with that.

*When you have a bunch of wanna be goal scorers (credit seekers) and no play makers - you don't score many goals.

3 new books

just when I think I’m finished with my 2011 reading list (you can see HERE) I have to add MORE books. For some reason I always forget about the books that WILL COME OUT later in the year!

So, here are 3 that I’m adding to my list for this year. 2 just came out this month & the other comes out in the Fall.

Naked Spirituality – Brian McLaren

I always read everything this guy writes. One of my fav authors (if not my ultimate fav). Stoked to read this newest one.

Love Wins – Rob Bell

Not many who haven’t heard the hype around this book already. Pretty sure I know what he says on the topic, but looking forward to reading it. I’ve heard the 1^st few chapters are absolutely amazing.

*I already have my copies on hold/reserved at the library for both of these books above. Will be in my hands soon.

EntreLeadership – Dave Ramsey

I’ve read pretty much all the $ books Dave has written. Some call me a Ramsey-ite. But this is his 1^st non-financial book. I love learning Leadership stuff from Dave… so excited about this book coming in the Fall.

Not sure if I’ll bump 3 other books from my list, but I know I’ll be reading these 3.

funniest thing i've seen this month!

Carolina vs. Kentucky was yesterday = 4:30-7:30.

Bummed about the outcome but here is the sign a Doctor at Crystal’s hospital made for all the patients and nurses to see. She works on the Labor & Delivery floor.

Funniest thing I’ve seen in a while.

crappy day?

(This was originally posted on January 28, 2009. Over 2 years ago. So this is in no way a statement about my day today. but still the same sentiment - all blessings my way. you can read the original and the comments HERE.)

So, let me tell you how my day was supposed to go...

up @ 7am.

Drop Crystal's car @ the mechanic on the way to the office & pick up a car there to drive for the rest of the day (5 minutes max).

@ the office by 9am & a TON of work to knock out today! 3 days worth of work needs to be done TODAY.

my actual day so far...

alarm did NOT go off @ 7.

my wife woke me up well after 8 -> she was SICK!

since she was sick she needed me to take our little yippy dog to the vet for an appointment @ 9. I ran out the door with no shower & was still late.

I was supposed to drop the dog off & head straight to work & my wife would pick him up later when they were done with him.

Apparently, this was not a drop off event! nope I got to be in the room & help hold Jack Bauer the dog on the table while various thermometers & objects were put into his rectum (so, maybe my day wasn't as crappy as his!?)

Back to the house after 10am & showered quickly & left.

Got to the mechanic's place which of course is a bad thing in itself. My junky car club car hasn't started in over a week! now, our nice car (Crystal's) is doing all kinds of crazy crap & I am just praying it won't break us! The mechanic tells me that those cars (make & model of my wife's car) are CRAP. great news.

The car he had for me to drive for the next 2 days (while he fixed Crystal's) WOULD NOT START. hung out with him for like an hour while he "fixed" it & got it running.

*Oh, and did I mention my wife is SICK. that's the worst of all. I can't stand it when she's sick because my heart hurts for her & there's nothing I can do about it.

So, after all that I arrived here @ the office around 12:30... & the car I'm driving is still running! the mechanic told me to just leave it running because it may not start if I turn it off! seriously?? r u kidding me?

Pulling out of the mechanic's place heading to the office I was frustrated & stressed for about half a second. Jesus pretty much chills in the car with me wherever I go. I try to carry on a constant conversation with Him. I told Him I was ticked. haha... He didn't talk out loud to me, but after that half second it was obvious to me that I have no reason to be ticked, frustrated, or stressed!

*First of all, any time my problems start with "my car..." that should be a great reminder that God has blessed me beyond what I can even comprehend. How spoiled am I to be complaining about 1 car not running & 1 about to break? That's ridiculous. I praise God for my junky 89 Caddy that has been kickin' for me since I was in high school. about to hit 200K miles, baby! & my wife's car is paid off too. We're pretty blessed.

And yes I'm unhappy that I won't get everything done today that I need to do at work, BUT - I HAVE a job! Lots of people don't right now. And not only do I have a job... I LOVE MY JOB! I wanted to get here so early because I love what I do & I know it's making a difference for the kingdom & I just want to do it the best I can.

And yes, my wife is sick & that sucks & it makes me really sad. But we've got a doctor we can go to anytime and access to medicine. She'll probably be better in a couple days. Millions of people are dying constantly because they don't have a doctor or meds or clean water to drink or a simple net to keep mosquitoes from biting them & giving them malaria that they don't have meds to cure... so they die.

I'm thankful today. I'm praising God today. Crappy day? no way, I am blessed... BIG TIME. Thanks Jesus, for reminding me.

quotes of the week #36

quotes of the week #36... go!

“Well I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn’t have anything to regret for the rest of their life.” – Lance Armstrong to Peter LeFleur in the movie Dodgeball

[an all time fav quote! of course it's funny, but it's RIGHT ON!]

"Love is not a fight, but it is always worth fighting for." - Love Dare the book

"Forgiveness liberates the soul. Forgiveness eliminates fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon." - Nelson Mandela

"The best thing a leader can bring to their team is their energy." – Bill Hybels

“Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.” – Desmond Tutu

“War is sweet to those who have not experienced it.” – Sharon Welch

[I have actually not experienced it and it is far from sweet to me. But I get what she’s saying.]

“Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” - George Washington Carver

"there is no security on this earth. Only opportunity." Douglass MacArthur

"Christianity is not about where we attend on Sunday, but how we behave on Monday." – Andy Stanley

which is your fav?

incognito

i've noticed something interesting over the past couple years.

1st of all, i usually strike up conversations with most people. people who work certain places remember me when i come back.

but, when you change your hair every few months - those loose acquaintance/"friends" don't know who you are.
People like Starbucks baristas, waitresses, Borders peeps, etc...

i'll walk in and say "hi" like i always do, but they say "hi" in a very different way. a way that lets me know they have no idea who i am. because usually they say something like "hi, good to see you again."

now i'm used to it. nobody can keep up.

short light brown & spiky --> long brown --> longer brown --> long blonde --> long blonde and red --> shorter red & blonde --> blonde faux hawk --> brown faux hawk --> short brown + beard --> blonde & red faux hawk + beard --> raggedy brown, blonde, & red + beard --> Black (currently).

what can i say... i just get bored.
(which i guess will come in handy if i'm ever on the run & need to go incognito)

friday

happy Friday  everyone. a couple Fridays ago i wrote about "that Friday buzz".

there's a new top video on YouTube. no doubt you've seen it. it's pretty awful, but it's racked up over 45 million views recently. i love Fridays so i HOPE this doesn't become the official theme song.

just in case you missed it...



you probably didn't make it all the way through & that's quite all right. But watch below and enjoy Conan's spoof/remix of this bad music video gone viral. (this one is barely over 1 minute long)



doesn't take much to get famous these days. enjoy your Friday everyone!

Good post on "the dreamer myth"

I read this great post last night from Carlos Whittaker called "the Dreamer Myth". Check it out HERE (1st attempt to post a blog from my iPhone)

my new to-do list

(This was originally posted February 18, 2009. so, the to-do list was new back then, but over 2 years old now...)

It's not all that new. It became my to-do list in October... so, over 4 months now. It's pretty simple & it's the same every day.

1 love God
2 love Crystal
3 live the Mission

That's my to-do list. I wrote this in my journal the day in October when God gave me this to-do list = "what freakin' else is there to do!?!??? Seriously, what else matters? What else is there to do with my life? I've gotta spend 95% of my time in life doing these 3 things... help me do that, Jesus!"
(oh, and Crystal is my wife... for those of you who don't know.)

If we're honest, most of us just waste a lot of time! I'm committed not to do that anymore. If it's not one of these 3 things... I'm NOT doing it!

Obviously my #3 "live the Mission" has the potential to be very broad. So that's the trick for me - I'm narrowing it down based on my "chazown"/specific vision for my life's mission. I summed up the mission that day in my journal with 3 words = "glory, love, justice." It's going to include even more than those 3 though... (Loving people is a HUGE part of the Mission and we could all be more consumed with that. If "loving people" would have been 3rd on my to-do list then it would have been 3 "loves", but I'm confident the Mission is more than only that. Although, if we all just did that we'd be WAY better off than we are now.)

I'm still learning as I'm only 4 months into this new to-do list. Of course the cool part is I never really have to make a new to-do list... I'll never complete these projects, although I hope to succeed at each of them every single day.
I still go to "chick flicks" with my wife because that's part of #2... that's part of loving her. I still like to sit on the porch swing & chill watching the sun set while talking to God... that's part of #1 loving God for me. I'm still going to do extra jobs so I can give money to the poor & to spreading God's fame because that's part of #3 the Mission. I'm still gonna have fun and live in community and hang out watching sports with unbelievers because it's all part of the Mission. I'm still gonna work out some (not a lot - a few days a week) because I don't know if I can love God, love my wife, or live the Mission quite as effectively if I drop dead or get really fat. :)

This has definitely become my filter for everything I do now. I definitely turn down lots of stuff & I say "no" a lot because things aren't on my to-do list. It feels really good too!
It's still a work in progress, but I'm definitely diggin' it so far!

(What's on YOUR to-do list?)

beautiful pics

World Water Day 2011 has come to an end. Here are 2 (of the many) beautiful pictures i looked at today.

a little girl in the Philippines...

a boy in Nicaragua...

(pics via of Halogen TV)

5,000 children die every day because they don't have clean water. Here are 2 children who won't be a part of that statistic!

so, these pictures are beautiful.

World Water Day + Happy Birthday, Mom!

what are the chances that these 2 momentous days happen at the same time?

check out everything for World Water Day HERE. imho - it's pretty dumb and ridiculous that there are still countless people dying every day because the simply don't have any access to clean water.
we can fix that!

& you should wish my Mom a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! if you're her Facebook friend you can hop on there and tell her.

Mom - thanks for being an awesome Mom all these years! you're the best. Happy Birthday!

what do YOU care about?

(This was originally posted on January 29, 2009.)

I sat down to read Proverbs 29 today after stuffing myself at the Penguin with a Big Block burger & some fried pickles. (You can read my thoughts about reading Proverbs HERE.)

1 sentence STILL will not let me go & hopefully it will do the same to you:

"The righteous care about justice for the poor, BUT the wicked have no such concern." - Proverbs 29:7

Whoa. This theme runs throughout Scripture. You can pretty much separate righteous people from wicked people based on their relationship to the poor (sounds like a story Jesus told in Matthew 25). Pretty crystal clear. plain and simple.

So, what do you care about? Justice for the poor? Or do you have "NO SUCH CONCERN"???

quotes of the week #35

some awesome quotes - meant to be shared with you.

"Kophaan tchaala dansa" (an Ethiopian proverb) = "Being alone is only good for going to the toilet."

"To not forgive is to let someone rent free space in your head." – rob bell

“When God allows us to be bothered by something, it’s often because He’s going to use us to do something about that thing that bothers us.” – Chris Brown

“The busier you are fulfilling your calling the less you'll worry about getting the credit.” – Steven Furtick

"The meeting was probably too long. I suggest stand up meetings with no chairs so you talk about the stuff you need to talk about and this might have never happened." - carlos whittaker

"Churches gravitate towards preserving assets and away from advancing mission. Think like a start up!" - Andy Stanley

"If your gospel isn't touching others, it hasn't touched you." Curry Blake

“Don’t say ‘yes’ just because it’s hard to say ‘no’.” – Mark Batterson

have a favorite?

(sms) shine

pay attention to the story. not to mention that telling a story with a lite brite is awesome.

St. Paddy's and March Madness!

what an awesome combination!

my favorite holiday (because it's my name's sake & Irish & fun) + one of the greatest times of year (NCAA March Madness)
all kicking off the same day! wow... like a dream come true.

there's just nothing quite like March Madness.

& St. Patrick was no slouch himself. i'm proud to be named after him. (actually i was named after my great great grandfather Patrick O'Hennessey who came over on the boat from Ireland.)

Contrary to what you might think - St. Patrick wasn't even Irish. He was Scottish, but kidnapped by the Irish as a kid And then followed God BACK to the land of his kidnappers as a missionary! that's pretty hard core!

He did some crazy awesome stuff for the sake of the Kingdom & lived FAR from a glamorous life... pretty much lived in poverty for the sake of the only renown that matters.

Patrick lived a life worth telling stories about and then died 1,550 years ago today.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

rich in love

(I originally posted this on November 14, 2008.)

Sometimes I enjoy reading back through my journal... just looking at what I said to God and what He said to me. Reviewing the conversation we've had for the past months... years...

I came across a really cool day from about 1 year ago. I think I can actually remember the day - where I was, etc... Most of what I said is much too personal to share here, but I read something that day in the Psalms that still amazes me and I think it's one of those phrases we easily glaze over when reading...

Psalm 145:8 -> "The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love."

YES! That is SO COOL. I mean, it's really amazing that our God is gracious and compassionate and slow to anger. Without those parts of His character we would be screwed for sure. I love God for those things. I want to be just like God = full of grace, full of compassion for everyone, and patient (not get angry)! I really want to live that.

BUT, the big thing that astonishes me every time I read it is that last phrase about God!

"RICH IN LOVE"

Whoa. What do you think when you hear that. Where does your mind race too? What about just the word "rich"? Obviously someone "rich in money" is someone with so much money that they really don't have to worry about money anymore. You know? They don't give any thought to paying for stuff. Maybe the coolest thing about being "rich in money" would be to be able to

give huge heaps of money away and not even worry about it.

***Do you really want to know what image comes to my mind when I think of the word "rich"? I'm sure at least one of you wants to know... you might laugh. Ok, do you remember the cartoon back in the day... I think it was called Duck Tales? You remember what I'm talking about right? (no, not Darkwing Duck, although I did watch that one too.) Well, there was always a part of the show where the rich uncle (can't remember his name) would go to his safe/vault to check on all his money. (He was the richest duck in the world by the way). The thing was set up like a swimming pool! The rich uncle would go diving into all his money off a diving board. He was so rich he would just swim around in his money! In fact I just found a clip of the opening of the show... watch below and you can see some shots of all the money & him diving in like I'm talking about.

I just remember thinking as a kid that that is the height of "richness". If you have enough money to make it into a swimming pool then you're definitely rich.

I think sometimes we skip over phrases in the Scripture that are HUGE and have a lot of power. (read HERE for another post about that idea.)

SO, when I think of God being RICH IN LOVE... I'm in awe. First of all, of course He's rich in love!... He invented love. Not only that... He IS love! He is so rich in love that He gives it away like crazy and will never run out... not even close. He gives so much away but won't even ever make a dent in His love that's piled up in the safe.

The amazing part is that we're the ones who get to "swim in it" (like the duck uncle)... I get to enjoy that love. I rest in it, enjoy life in it, and "swim" in it.

Now, I WANT to live that way. I desperately want to be rich in love as well. I want to give it away like an endlessly rich man could give away money. I really want to be almost "careless" with love. Not just with the "lovable" people either... I want to be someone characterized by richly loving everyone! I wouldn't even mind if that's what they wrote on my tombstone or something.

I'll take being "rich in love" over being "rich in money" any day.

flying

in one of the best books i've ever read this guy talks about what to do with the vision God births in your soul.

and he actually starts out talking about the Wright brothers and their vision to build the 1st ever airplane. (i've actually got a crazy story about THE SPOT where that 1st airplane took off from... you'll have to ask me about it.)


Here's what Andy said that grabbed me - "experience sparked in the boys an insatiable desire to fly… So they immediately went to work removing the obstacles that stood between them and their dream.”

what is that spark in you? what do you have an insatiable desire to do? you may not want to build an airplane and fly but you would say you have an insatiable desire to ___________?

have you started removing the obstacles yet?

Japan earthquake - 2 very different stories

Tonight i was watching my wife read some stories about the Japan earthquake. She was telling me some of the horrible stuff surrounding the devastation.
my heart isn't able to handle much of this stuff.

i heard the Prime Minister (or someone like that) said this was the worst devastation the country has seen since the horrific atomic bombings in World War 2.

i looked over and saw she googled something general like "Japan Earthquake". There were 2 top stories for "news results".
Here is what i saw:

Japan earthquake death toll estimated at over 10,000

Japan earthquake stalls Nissan electric car production

i had to do a double take. i was like "what?" really? the top 2 stories? 10,000 people are dead. wow. we cannot even process that. what an awful, horrific event.

oh yeah, but of course our world is just as wrapped up in the fact that we're going to have to wait a little longer for those guys to make the cool electric cars.
are you kidding me?

join March Madness!

This is the 4th annual renown  bracket challenge for the NCAA Tournament!

Here's how you join:
Go to ESPN and join the Tournament Challenge by simply clicking HERE. (You can sign up for a free ESPN account if you don't already have one.) All you have to do is fill out the registration and then submit it. click the big button in the middle that says Create Entry. Name your entry (that will be your bracket) and click on Create or Join a Group.

in the Group Search box type mullets anonymous - that's our group name. you should see a pic of a guy with an awesome mullet. Then you need to type in the group password = mullets.

Good luck with your pick and just have some fun these next few weeks watching some really intense and exciting college basketball. 

still making us laugh

And a follow up from yesterday's ridiculous video - Crowder gets in on the fun.

just to make you laugh

(i originally posted this video on September 22, 2009.)

look past the painful and just ENJOY it as comedy!

(If you didn't make it to the "ZAP" then you didn't watch long enough!)
more to come tomorrow

simple like a story

the gospel.

short and sweet.

simple like a story.

"Crack kids, track kids, hookers and robbers, The naked and hungry, mothers and fathers

Abuses, excuses, and guns in your hands, And I even welcome the arrogant man

I welcome you all to the biggest of feasts, A night of no shame, to pause and to breathe

This is a night of love's renovation, A feast I am sure that could change a whole nation

Me, I'm not such an excellent host, I am one who forgives but needs it the most

I found the liar, the killer of hearts, And I ran away with a new way to start

I journeyed a road where a bright man appeared

He looked into me, and my eyes filled with tears

My breath fast and short and my heart burning deep

He gave me new eyes and a new way to see

So come as you are,, as you are, as you are...

I still defiled His great love ways, I felt such a famine when I ran away

I missed the presence, The voice like a song, I was nasty and dirty, I knew I was wrong

But He ran to me like a dream like a Father, This love is not earthly this love must be other

He carried me home and threw me a party, A party so loud like the greatest love story

Oh my dear friends applaud now please, I've invited you here to announce YOU ARE FREE!

He takes your chains, busting you out of prison

Just open your heart, Let your heart come and listen

come as you are,, as you are, as you are...

Who could accept all your pounding and screaming

Your raging, your freaking, cussing, and beating

All while He holds you and always forgiving, This is the story of love and of living

Wipe off your tears and laugh just a little, Come break this bread, celebrate the Forgiver

Raise up a glass, a time to remember, Come break this bread, CELEBRATE THE FORGIVER!!!

(Charlie Hall, Hookers and Robbers)

enjoy the moments

life is a blur sometimes.

if you're not careful, you'll miss the moments.

i miss them pretty often. determined to change that though.

there have been lots of "moments" in the past week. i didn't miss them. well, at least not all of them.

your vision is too small

If your vision doesn't exceed your ability, then your vision is too small.

period.

(i actually wrote that. wow, surprised myself because it's pretty fancy... like an Andy Stanley quote or something. of course i did write this line in my journal while reading Andy's book Visioneering.)

THEN next in my journal i wrote "i'm pretty sure... right?" haha.

i am right, don't you think? i mean, if your vision is not bigger than what you're actually able to do... that's not even a vision. that's just mediocrity. 

that's just blah.

safe.

normal.

boring.

because if it doesn't exceed YOUR ability and competency and capacity then it's not truly a God-sized vision.

i've got some crazy vision that is so far beyond my ability & competency. some days it just feels plain crazy.

maybe it is.

but i'm going for it.