Good People

There are none. There is a fundamental belief in many of todays cultures that people are basically good with a few exceptions. I don't know how we came up with this idea. Spending only a few minutes scrolling through my Facebook feed I can easily make a case for the depravity of man. We are bad, all of us. We don't even measure up to our own standards. Sure, if we compare our daily actions on our best days to the actions of the psychos in the news on their worst days we can feel a little bit better about ourselves, but if we are honest we can easily see that we are broken.

Understanding the brokenness of men helps. I am no longer surprised when a friend goes off the deep end. I am not longer surprised when I am drawn after destruction. Evil is in me. We are fallen creatures living in a fallen world.

Why after millions of years of evolution do I still crave sugar? Why haven't I been born with a desire for broccoli? We are prone to destruction.

Good people don't need a Savior.

Mark 10:19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

Holding onto Sand

Time is like sand slipping through our fingers. We try so hard to hold it tighter but no matter how tightly we hold on it still slips through. Every day we lose a little more and none of us knows how much we have left.

But the sand has value. Its the most valuable thing we have but we know we can't hold it so we trade it for other worthless junk that we can't hold. We use it to buy toys, or friends, or memories but these things are no better. Toys become trash, friends leave or die or worse, and memories fade as the sand slowly (or quickly) leaves our hand.

If you could trade all the sand in your had for something eternal would you do it?

Mark 8:35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

Faith Always Works

Those who believe will see things that those who don't believe will never see. Faith works every time. Every prayer is a step. We often don't see the answer to our prayer because we stopped taking steps. Perhaps we take a single step, look around and decide that God isn't in this one. Or perhaps we give up after only praying for 10 years. If we truly believe we'll keep taking steps. Taking steps is called walking. Taking steps of faith is called walking in faith. 

Healing the sick is the afterthought. He wanted to do so much more but He could only heal a few sickos. What "Mighty Work" would He do if we truly believed. So often we just want Him to give us comfort when we're suffering. We don't even know that we're settling for crumbs. 

"And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them and he marveled because of their unbelief." Mark 6:5,6

Inspire Me

There are so many people in my life who inspire me. I'm never inspired by the people who play it safe, but by the people who gamble. Gamble is probably not the word I should use but it feels right. The people who inspire are people who are willing to do the things that I am not willing to do. They act as if they know something that I don't know. They push all their chips to the middle of the table as if they have a strait flush but they do it so often that I'm pretty sure they're bluffing. How can they be so careless? What do they know?

They don't know anything special. They've just chosen to do the thing that I have chosen not to do. They take a deep breath and jump. If they survive, and they usually do, they do it again. 

Fearless

Its easy to be fearless when you're safe. Fear only comes when you step out. I'm only afraid of heights when I'm climbing the mountain. I'm only afraid of the dark at night. I've met a lot of "fearless" people who never take risks. They are always willing to give advice about what they would do in your situation but they rarely do anything themselves.

Its easy to speak up when everyone agrees with you. Its easy to dance when you're alone. 

A Puppet On A String

Free will is a joke. We're all covered in buttons and strings. Push this button and we'll do this, pull that string and we'll do that. Some people will quit listening because I said that. I pushed a button.

Advertisers, marketers and politicians don't care if you believe you're in control. Believing we're in control actually gives us less control. The string was pulled and we responded and now we have to defend our response, so we own it.

The evidence is everywhere. Look at any group of people. Why are they so similar and yet so different from other groups? Why do they all have the same haircut? Why do they all have tattoos? Why do they all dress the same? Why don't any of them drink? Why do they all smoke?

Why do the majority of Americans who believe that abortion is wrong also believe that we should have the right to carry a gun and the people who call themselves pro-choice believe that guns are unsafe. These issues should't be related unless we're all following a script that someone else is writing.

So should we just give up the fight? Do we just let the culture continue to control us and float downstream like a dead fish? No! When we learn that we're puppets we can take control of the strings. We can advertise to ourselves. We can push our own buttons. Its as simple as asking the question; "Where is this taking me?" Every book we read or show we watch is a string pulled. Every news program, every conversation, everything we eat or say or hear is a button pressed. If we don't like where we are or where we're going we can change it by changing who pulls the strings.

The Canvas Or The Brush

The canvas is painted, the brush paints.

The canvas sits back and waits while the brush is actively moving.

The canvas can only tell one story at a time while the brush can tell unlimited stories.

The canvas is marked but the brush leaves its mark.

The canvas can't make any mistakes. The brush is always trying new things and often makes mistakes, but the brush can fix its mistakes.

The canvas is not responsible for the outcome.

The canvas is either beautiful or its not, but the brush makes it so.

The canvas is hung on the wall for the world to see, the brush is rarely noticed.

The canvas complains about the colors or the lines or the brush if it doesn't like how it looks. The brush doesn't care how it looks.

The canvas needs the paint to be spread perfectly to be happy. The brush mixes and matches till it gets it right.

The canvas is always talking about yesterday. The brush is doing something today.

The canvas dies with more to offer the world. The brush is tattered and broken, all used up and in the end has nothing left to give.

Are you the Canvas or the Brush?

You Are An Expert

What do you do well? If I were to find a random group of 100 people, what do you suppose you could do better than 80 percent of them? We all have our talents and our special skills. Maybe you're a good cook, maybe you play piano, maybe you're great at styling your hair or cutting other peoples hair. Maybe you draw or paint or do makeup. Maybe you organize well or you can fix cars. Maybe you're good at video games or board games or dancing or investing.

If I were to find a random group of 100 people, I suppose that 80 percent of them would better than me at all of the things that I just listed. But I also know that I have my own list of talents and special skills. I may not be in the top 5 percent of anything but thats ok. If I'm in the top 20 percent there are still millions of people out there who I can teach, bless and add value to.

We live in a time where we have access to people all over the world. There are millions of people out there who are waiting for us to teach them, to help them or maybe even to entertain them. You don't have to be in the top 5 percent anymore. 20 percent will do just fine.

Watch the Video Here!

What is Your Expectation?

We often get what we expect. Maybe its because we've become so smart that we can see whats gonna happen before it happens. Maybe life is just that predictable. Maybe people are just that predictable. But maybe not.

What if its actually our expectations that make things happen? What if bracing for impact is actually causing the crash? Maybe I don't have a spring in my step because its a good day, maybe its a good day because I have a spring in my step, and as a result the world around skips along with me.

Different expectations produce different actions, and different actions produce different results.

What's your experience? Is the world a dark and cruel place? Is it an exciting adventure? Either way, does it meet your expectations?

Watch the Video Here!

Reading

I'm thankful for the few readers in my life who have challenged me to make reading a priority. Nothing has challenged my thinking like a well scripted thought laid out in a good non fiction book. Sometimes its helpful to immerse ourselves in the minds of people who are nothing like us, otherwise we have a tendency to simply float downstream and become a puppet of our culture.

Whether we like it or not we are always being influenced by the people we're around the most. Reading gives us access to people who think differently and live differently. The great thing is, we get to choose who influences us. 

There is a downside though. Reading can become a form of procrastination. If a new idea doesn't produce a new action then its just another form of consumerist entertainment. It makes us feel smart like we solved a case with Sherlock Holmes but in reality we never got off the couch. 

But remember, the one who doesn't read is no better off than the one who can't read.

Watch the Video Here!

Templates

I hate writing resumes, so I'm thankful for resume templates. Just find one that looks professional and fill it in with your own information, maybe change the color or the font and you're done. The more you break away from the template the more you will stand out, for better or for worse, but it sure makes the process a lot easier.

But templates aren't just for resumes, they're everywhere. They give us a guideline and an idea of whats expected. You can find templates in fashion or in art. As a musician I have noticed that most songs follow a certain template; verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus.

Even your style and personality seem to follow a template. Do you wear a suit or do you prefer a t-shirt and jeans. Maybe you only wear black, or you're covered in Tattoos. Do you follow the hipster template or the church lady template? Maybe you're a cowboy or a runner.

The more you break away from the template the more you will stand out, for better or for worse, but it sure makes the process a lot easier.