To Do or To Be? (8yr old perspective on to-do lists)

April 7, 2012 in family, kids, leadership, parenting, relationships, Uncategorized with 0 Comments

This was originally posted on Michael Hyatt’s blog as a guest post by Barry Hill, Jr., a storyteller, blogger, speaker, and barista. You can read more on blog, The Ordained Barista, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

I love to-do lists. Are you a to-do list person? Not sure? Take this one question quiz to find out if you might be an official to-do list person.

Question: Have you ever completed a task that wasn’t on your to-do list, and then added it on to your to-do list, after you completed the task, just so you could enjoy the twisted satisfaction of crossing that task off of your to-do list?

If you have, then you, my friend, are officially a to-do list person. Welcome to the club.

The major challenge I have with my to-do lists, like many people, is that I have more tasks to do on them then any ten people could possibly finish in a week. Sound familiar? Because we live such frenetic lives, we can quickly become mired in the tyranny of the urgent, and prioritizing my tasks for the week becomes paramount if I am going to move closer to my goals.

One of the questions I like to ask myself, in order to determine what tasks get assigned a higher priority, is the following, “What tasks on this to-do list should, or can only, be accomplished by me?” Continue Reading…

what if going to church was like…

July 12, 2011 in church, evangelism, serving with 0 Comments

I read a blog recently that I’m going to rework and share with you… what if going to church was like going to the dentist? What if I was the pastor of “St. Fluoride of the Holy Crown” and my dentist came on a Sunday morning? Maybe this is what he would experience…

A relatively interested (but not entirely happy to see him) person would greet him as he entered the sanctuary and ask how long it’s been since he’s been at a church. If it’s been a while, he would be handed a clip board Continue Reading…

I can do anything I want!

July 6, 2011 in faith, family, grace, Jesus, kids, love, parenting, relationships with 0 Comments

Can you? Yes, you can! Jesus died so we could be FREE… free to do, to choose and to live according to our heart’s desire, out from under the bondage of any religious laws or arbitrary rules (which Paul called a “yolk of slavery”, see Galatians 5.1). 

Continue Reading…

you are evil

June 27, 2011 in grace, provision, scripture, testimony with 0 Comments

I received an email recently from a friend in the throes of several challenging situations. While sitting in a waiting room, her brother grabbed a Bible, flipped it open and said, “What’s the first thing that catches your eye?” To which she replied, “Seriously, you think just flipping to some random page is gonna help?” But he insisted, “Just tell me what grabs your attention.” She looked and pointed to the first phrase that caught her eye… ”you are evil,” then she handed the Bible back to her brother satisfied in proving her point and shattered at what God chose to speak to her on this already horrific day.

Continue Reading…

still thinking about father’s day

June 22, 2011 in leadership, parenting with 0 Comments

I heard someone say a while back that crafting a sermon (or any talk for that matter) is like being a sculptor – beauty is created by what is taking away instead of what is added. Here are a couple things that got chiseled off from Sunday’s talk.

Continue Reading…

If you’re gonna ask a question

June 7, 2011 in church, leadership with 0 Comments

I remember hearing a long time ago, a lesson that I have never forgotten… except when I really need to remember it.

Never ask a question unless you either:
1) know the answer
2) are willing to accept whatever answer you get

confession is only $1.99 (for a limited time)

May 26, 2011 in church, grace with 0 Comments

Turns out there wasn’t an app for quite everything yet… 

Little iApps recently made confession easier by creating a mobile app – Confession: a Roman Catholic App. As if that isn’t enough to blow your skirt up (sorry, probably need to go download that app now), the Roman Catholic Church has actually given the app their blessing. But, to their defense, Pope Benedict XVI did admonish the denomination to “embrace the digital world” *commence front hugs* Continue Reading…

two realities

May 5, 2011 in church, faith, relationships with 0 Comments

Scripture reminds us that if one member of the body suffers, the whole body suffers. 
 
If I stubbed my toe, I would probably walk with a bit of a limp in an effort to keep pressure off my toe. This may cause me undue attention by my office friends because the hitch in my giddy-up would look funny and could even cause me to incur other aches and pains (because I was trying to compensate for the pain). 
 
Or if I had a stomach ache, Continue Reading…

the prefix in serve

March 24, 2011 in church, provision, relationships, serving with 0 Comments

Deuteronomy 6.1-2 reads:

These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.

The most important word in this passage is “observe” and here’s why… I’m convinced that if every Christian in the entire world had their Bibles taken away Continue Reading…

what kind of fisherman (or woman) are you?!?

March 9, 2011 in evangelism, faith, grace, relationships, serving with 0 Comments

 

I’m reading the book “Same Kind of Different As Me” by Ron Hall (a wealthy white man) and Denver Moore (an uneducated, homeless black man), and am thoroughly enjoying it! Without going into too much detail, just know that Ron and Denver build an extraordinary friendship. Yesterday, I read a portion that literally caused me to put the book down and take a deep breath – it was a conversation they had when their friendship finally became “official”. I wish I could say it resonated within my soul, but feel it might be more appropriate to say it echoed in my heart. Here is an excerpt of their conversation: Continue Reading…

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