I am convinced that the value of social media is much more informational than relational. This has been true of all forms of communication from the beginning of time.

• When God wanted to reveal the “Ten Commandments” to Moses he used the first  “iRock.”  It was very heavy broke the first time it was dropped, but evidently came with a warranty.  It worked just fine. I can even imagine that Moses’ friends were quite offended when he kept glancing at it at the dinner table.

• When God wanted to call Moses into service, he released “The  iBurning Bush.” Although the idea never caught the attention of the Jewish market, Moses certainly got the message. In this case God didn’t need a hundred thousand followers, just one good leader.

• When God wanted to warn King Belshzzar of impending national disaster, he released the first stunning version of the iPad, It featured a remote controlled finger that wrote an ominous message on a screen the size of a wall.

• When God wanted to give the Israelites directions to the promised land, He released the first GPS, with a guidance system that worked day or night, and even had a recalculating feature.

Now let me take my tongue out of my cheek and express my point.

• When God wanted to demonstrate His love for us, when he wanted to extend the possibility of real relationship with him it required nothing less than flesh meeting flesh. Though he had communicated in times past by prophets and all means of wonderful gadgetry, to communicate love he sent his Son, Jesus to meet us face to face.. The tablets and burning bushes and pillars of fire were replaced with dinners, embraces, personal touch and Holy blood spilled on barren ground.

I am so glad God didn’t text, e-mail, twitter or blog his message of love to me. If he had come to earth in this day and age, he might have used social media to announce his coming or keep record of his being here, but only the incarnation, the appearance of God in the flesh could consummate the relationship he desired with us.

Social Media’s greatest contribution is the entree it creates for real relationships.  And as with Christ’s example, relationships are only consummated when flesh touches flesh. I have thousands of social media “friends” but real relationship happened when we looked each other in the eye, shook hands, embraced, and broke bread together. Before that we were acquaintances separated by a thin digital line. When we met, real people became real friends. Real relationship was born.

I am so grateful for those of you I have only met through this medium.  There is a bond between us that we would never have except for the internet.  In a post entitled Disciplines of the Heart, Michael Hyatt said this, “In a world of social media and faux connections, we must be intentional about building authentic relationships and real community.”  Although I know this can’t happen with everyone, I look forward to the day you and I might meet, move beyond the thin digital line and take a step toward real relationship.

Looking forward to your comments.

1.  Weigh the decisions you make before they weigh you down.

Every day I meet people who are prisoners of their own body because of poor lifestyle decisions they made throughout the years.   The decisions they made were little choices that ended up having a cumulative affect on their health.  I know this because I have been there.  The temptation of the moment resets the course of their life.  Each action we take must be weighed in light of what we want our life to look like in the future.  Whether your dealing the physical, spiritual, or social dimensions of your life, what you do today matters. Weigh your decisions carefully.

2.  Keep your ultimate goal in mind.

Years ago I read about a pro golfer who prepared for each major tournament by going to the very last hole and working his way backward  He would stand on hole 18 looking back at the course.  From there he would plan where his drive or fairway shot needed to land to give him the best opportunity to get his approach shot close to the pin. Then he would walk back to that spot and calculate what kind of shot he would have to make from the tee box to put him in that position.

He would walk the entire course backward to plan each action to lead to the ultimate goal of success at the 18th hole.  In his book Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, Stephen Covey clarified this principle in a chapter entitled “Begin with the end in mind.”  These are principles essential to anyone who seeks to live fully alive.  Have a purpose.  Know what you want to accomplish with your life. Then work backward from there to so that each shot you take at life puts you in the best position to reach that goal.

3.  Recognize the importance of little things

My friend Phil Waltrep tells a story that illustrates the power of small actions over a period of time.  One day he discovered that the foundation of his house was settling to the point that the structural integrity of his entire home was being threatened.  He called an expert and found out that the problem was due to a small leak in the gutter system.  One drip at a time the defective gutter had deposited tens of thousands of gallons of water that eroded the soil at the foundation of the house.  So little decisions over time can alter the course of life.  But there is hope!  Phil recognized the problem, fixed the gutter and repaired the foundation.

You see, little decisions can also add up to create character and foundational strength that leads to living fully alive.  As a boy I visited Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.  As I stood in awe of the majestic and beautiful stalagmites, rising hundreds of feet from the cave floor, The guides said that they were formed over thousands of years one tiny drip at a time.  The decisions you make today can be foundation of your success tomorrow.

No decision is a small decision.

Every action is worthy of careful consideration.

Small decisions are the building blocks of success or the emissaries of destruction.

As a pilot, I learned aviation accidents are rarely the result of a single catastrophic event.  Most are the accumulation of a series of bad decisions.

• Rather than getting enough rest a pilot stays up late to watch a movie on television.
• He overslept and rushed to the airport to get off in time to get to his destination for an important meeting.
• Because he was late he did not do a thorough flight check of his aircraft.
• He failed to check his gas tanks.
• Realizing his situation he pressed on rather than landing to refuel.
• The engine quit. He passed up a field that would allow him to land safely but he chose instead to try to land on a busy highway, hoping that a motorist might be able to get him to his meeting on time.
• On approach to the highway he hit power lines and perished in the resulting crash.

If the pilot had changed any one of these little actions and made the proper decision he would be alive today.

No matter where you are in life and regardless of the bad decisions you have made, your next decision can be a good one. 

God’s mercies are new every morning. 

Today is a new day.  Don’t sacrifice tomorrow’s opportunity on the altar of today’s desire.

Love to hear your comments.

No humans were harmed in producing this fake photo!

I just finished a 15 mile bike ride in winds gusting to over 30 miles an hour. The ride took me an hour and fifteen minutes and included two incredibly steep hills. One of them was so steep that I had to traverse in order to keep from stopping. It was excruciating. Do you know what the hardest part of the ride was? Getting out of bed.  So what is the one action that will change your life forever…..?

Just do it!

The hardest part of almost any task or challenge we face is getting started. I am an expert at sitting on my rear while I analyze how difficult a task is going to be,  agonize over how long it will take mull over whether I will be able to do it to perfection. A friend of ours, who happens to run one of the most successful fortune five hundred companies in the world, put it well. “Any thing worth doing is worth doing poorly the first time.”

JUST DO IT.   You can always improve on it once you have started.

My friend Eric Alexander, helped guide the first blind man to the peak of Mt Everest. He had to do more than just dream about reaching the summit. He didn’t sit around worrying because a blind man had never been on the summit before. They made it!  But it would have never happened if he had hadn’t taken that first step, crossed that first stream, established that first base camp.

What you got to do today?
What you got to do?
Apologize?
Exercise?
Run or just have fun?
Read?
Ride?
Forgive and let Live?
Admit?
Commit?
Study and Learn?
What you got to do today?
What you got to do?

JUST DO IT!

Tell me what first step took that led to new horizons?  OR  What step do you need to take to make something happen?  DO IT and then report back and let me celebrate with you!

This is a challenge adapted from a post done almost three years ago.

Check out my friend Eric Alexander.  His story is an inspirational and motivational presentation you will never forget.

Tyler, The prayer warrior!

Yesterday my daughter Traci dropped a heavy block of wood on her foot and broke a toe.  The pain was agonizing but there a was a deeper disappointment that drove her to tears.  She had trained and raised support to run a half-marathon to benefit “Coopers Troopers” an organization dedicated to helping the families and siblings of children who have faced life threatening disease.   As she sat on the couch sobbing with her face in her hands, she heard tiny voice of her three year old son, Tyler.  “You want me to pray for you?” It is hard to hear and sob at the same time so she asked him to repeat himself.  This time he said each word loudly and distinctly so his mother would understand.  “DO  YOU WANT ME TO PRAY FOR YOUR TOE???”   Traci responded, “I would like that very much.”  Tyler bowed his head, and with the sincerity only a three year old can express prayed, “Jesus loves me this I know, please help my mommies toe……  AMEN!”  Then he went back to playing.

What did I learn from Tyler’s prayer?

• Little hearts are very sensitive to the needs of people around them.  He was genuinely concerned.
• Little people go straight to the heart of the matter.  No religious gobbly-gook…..  Just help my mommies toe!
• Little hearts believe that their prayers are heard and will be answered.  No need to hang around. God is going to take care of it.  Might as well get back to Thomas the Train. 

No wonder Jesus loved little children. They are really have the biggest hearts of all.

Have you ever been touched or tickled by a child’s prayer?  Leave a comment, I would love to hear the story.

Zig Ziglar was the first person I heard say, “Everything that happens to you in life, has the potential of making you bitter or better. “ I could handle that statement until he continued, “The choice is yours!” I have to make a choice? Isn’t it the severity of what happens to me that determines whether I become bitter or better? Doesn’t my past free me to blame circumstances or other people for my attitude and actions?   Ouch!

But wait!  There is good news.  The fact God has given me a choice also means that I don’t have to be a victim of circumstances. Responding with bitterness sometimes feels better for a short period of time.  It momentarily relieves the pain of being treated unfairly.   It’s payback time.

But Bitter is NEVER better.

Make no mistake, it is a natural and acceptable human response to be angry at personal and corporate injustice, but allowing that anger to take root and fester may be one of the most self destructive actions a man or woman can take.

Without exception when bitterness is allowed to take root and grow it eventually diminishes and destroys the person who nurtures it. I have watched it happen to people I love.   The movement toward destruction can be slow and invisible to the naked eye, but inevitably bitter people with incredible potential are reduced to vindictive souls who lash out at perceived slights and offenses. Their judgment becomes clouded.  They become brittle, insensitive shells of what they really could be.  Once filled with life and compassion they slowly harden into isolated self protective souls desperate for and incapable of knowing healthy relationships.  I should know.  I did some hard time in that shell myself.

Every day the events of our lives force us to choose. Bitter? or Better?   Both, is not an option.

How ironic that bitterness has zero affect on the person or persons it is aimed at, but surely destroys the one who chooses to harbor it.

Researching my book “Fully Alive”  has forced me to re-evaluate my own life. Not always a fun process. I must confess that my default, knee jerk reaction can still occasionally lean toward “bitter.”  But, I am a free man now.  Seeing the miracle in lives resolved to let go of bitterness and move toward betterness. (sic) is like witnessing a rose that has been battered by hail recover and bloom to beauty again.  I have also seen the destruction that comes when bitterness sucks the beauty from life and destroys the potential to live fully alive.  I choose to live.  So today I pray…..

“Dear Lord, Today will bring a variety of events to my life.

I may experience cancelled flights, cruel remarks, or personal tragedy.

I may be made a fool of or make a fool of myself.

I may be reminded of a past filled with pain.

In the face of whatever happens Lord, help me take the time to weigh my response to these things.  Though I may get angry, feel like an idiot or dance in celebration, at the end of the day, by your grace, please help me – CHOOSE – to be better. ”

I look forward to your comments and stories.  They always help me be a BETTER person.