Nobody puts baby in a corner…

Watch the video in the upper right corner :: http://www.wect.com/global/story.asp?s=10854403

My Personality

I just took a personality assessment on AssessME.org. My primary trait came up as: Creator. The website gives the Creator this caption, “let me invent new and better ways to extend our ministry impact.” I like that! As I read to the bottom of the page, I came across something that made me say, “HECK YES!” I feel like this statement really defines my role in a church:

How Leadership Can Support You

If only more ministries would value the Creator personality instead of remaining risk-avoidant, the Church could accomplish so much more for the Kingdom of Christ. In fact, statements that infer a preference for “safe ministry” will likely turn off the Creator. If your ministry lacks Creator personalities, it is likely that the attitude and atmosphere of the ministry unconsciously communicates that Creators are not welcome.

A ministry can benefit greatly from Creators, but leaders must be willing to appreciate change and help their members appreciate these values as well. Otherwise, Creators can be vilified within the ministry as being responsible for changing the church others have grown to love. If this occurs, your ministry will likely lose this valuable and rare person to another ministry.

La,La,La…I Can’t Hear You

Remember being a kid, and someone would try to tell you something you didn’t want to hear? What would you do? Did you ever cover your ears, sing “la-la-la”, and yell at the person “I CAN’T HEAR YOU”? How many of you still do that? I recently saw a friend do it because they had Tivo’d a game and didn’t want to hear the results as a group of guys discussed it. Immature? Yes. Effective? Oh yeah.

I was reading in Acts the other day about a guy named Stephen. He was a regular guy telling anyone and everyone about how Jesus was the Messiah they have been waiting for. Well, the higher-ups in the government/religious leaders didn’t like this. So, they falsely accused Stephen of telling lies, which was a crime that carried a death sentence. Right before the council stoned him to death, Stephen says, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!” (Acts 7:56).

If someone says this, whether you think they are crazy or not, you stop what you’re doing to look and listen. But, that didn’t happen. Check out the response of these “wise” and “distinguished” religious and government leaders from Acts 7:57, “Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting.”

Can you imagine what that scene looked like? These men knew Stephen was telling them the truth, but they didn’t want to hear it. That’s because, if they heard it, it would require action and belief in a direction opposite of where they were heading.

Are there areas, people, circumstances, etc… in your life that are causing you to put your hands over your hears and say “I CAN’T HEAR YOU”? If so, how’s that working out for you?

Places you’ll never see me…

Considering I have trouble going about the 3rd step on a ladder, this picture makes me queasy!

A Tough Week

It’s been a tough week. Two people I was very close to while growing up have gone home to be with the Lord. And, both of them we lost to cancer.

Alan Metcalf was my 12th grade physics teacher. However, Alan wasn’t your “normal” or typical teacher. Maybe it was him just being out of NC State, but “Mr. Metcalf” was more like a friend. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much of what I learned about physics. But, the biggest impact Mr. Metcalf left on me came during the last day of school. Before the period was over, he took the class outside to share something he had written in his journal. He challenged us to make the most of every opportunity and to dream big. As the bell rang to end the class, Mr. Metcalf pulled me aside and said:

“Holt, I better be able to walk up to anyone on State’s campus, say your name, and they better know who you are. And from now on, call me Alan.”

That statement was constantly in my mind all throughout college and motivated me to get involved with Campus Crusade. I reconnected with Alan a few years ago on Facebook and was able to tell him how much that statement meant to me, and how I’ve used it to challenge other students during different speaking engagements. It was also during this conversation that I learned he had been battling brain cancer for a couple years.

On Tuesday, Alan died about 10:30 in the morning. It’s been awesome (although not surprising) to see how many people have left messages on Facebook saying how much Alan meant to them. His impact and legacy will continue on exponentially!

I grew up going to middle and high school with Kristi Winters Walker, and we became great friends. Anytime we were assigned group work, I always tried to be with Kristi because she was so stinking smart! I guess it didn’t hurt that I always had a crush on her too….well, until she started dating my best friend Dave Raymer. When I think about Kristi, I remember her being sweet, deeply passionate about her relationship with Jesus, caring, athletic, compassionate, die-hard UNC fan (her biggest flaw), always laughing, and a great friend.

During Kristi’s third trimester of pregnancy with her third son, Zane, she started experiencing extreme back and hip pain, requiring her to be put on bedrest. On Friday, October 17th, Kristi was admitted for an emergency C-section due to what was believed to be ‘Hellp Syndrome’. Kristi was transported to UNC Hospital following the birth, and after several days of extensive testing, the doctors diagnosed Kristi with Stage IV breast cancer with metastasis in the liver, spine and pelvis. After battling for several months, Kristi went to be with Jesus a little after 8:00 am this morning, February 13th. You can read her obituary here.

Please keep with Winter and Walker families in your prayers, especially Kristi’s husband Chuck, and her three boys: Cade, Mason, and Zane.