Innovation

The Nines was awesome! It was an online "confer-ence". Each speaker had 9 minutes on 9-9-09 to share anything they wanted to with Christian leaders across the nation. I only got to listen in spurts because it was on a work day, but here were some great thoughts by Gary Surratt from Seacoast Church about Innovation (with my thoughts in orange):

1. You hit the wall. Something is not working. [Pretty much any vision begins with frustration about something not being the way it should be.]

2. You get discouraged. You see it as a failure. “It’s ok to sit on the pity potty as long as you don’t get ring around the hiney.” [Yes! That's awesome!]

3. Trust God. Never been a day when God said: “I didn’t see that one coming.” [True dat!]

4. You start by asking the barrier breaking questions. "If nothing were impossible, what could we accomplish here?" [He also mentioned a question that I've been thinking about often..."If God's will was being done on earth as it is in heaven, what would that look like?"]

5. You collect innovative ideas. Get people in the room. Pray. Brainstorm. If you start filtering first you never get creative. Our matrix is easy/hard and big win/small win. [I love this idea! We'll definitely use this one!] We pick two or three and then we filter.

6. You do it until it quits working. Every new idea has an expiration date. [I agree. Everything has its season--and then eventually needs to be reworked, or cancelled altogether!]

So...I ask the deep question: If God's will was being done on earth as it is in heaven, what would that look like? What would that look like in your life and in your community?

The Principle of the Path

I've been soaking up Andy Stanley leader-ship podcasts on my way home from work. (Like I said, he's my new favorite!) On the last one I listened to, he talked about the Principle of the Path. Never before have I heard a principle that was so simple, yet so profound, and made me have one of those "AHA!" moments.

The principle is this:

Direction--not intention--determines your destination.

It seems like there are so many people who look back on their lives and think, "How in the world did I end up here??!" Failed relationships, loads of debt, poor health, moral crisis. The fact is that, despite their best intentions, they traveled down the wrong road, and kept going!

OK, to make it personal, I've wanted to be healthier for a while (lose some weight, gain muscle, and develop good eating habits). But the truth is, I find myself going over to McD's lately for mochas. That's the road I am choosing to travel, but it's not getting me to my destination. On the other hand, I've seen lately how the renewed vision and ever-increasing reality of our move has helped me to be more purposeful about taking steps to prepare for the church plant. I am listening to podcasts, reading books, learning from other leaders, blogging :) and getting our house out on the market. Instead of just great intentions, Shanygne and I are moving down the path that will get is to our destination.

There are so many applications to this principle that I feel a sermon series coming on!! :)

What roads are you taking to get to a destination? What roads are you taking that are not getting you to your destination?

Picture from www.sxc.hu, submitted by K_Alex.