I have had two conversations in the past couple days with two completely different people blessed with the same perspective gained from painful experiences. One is a successful business owner who just suffered the painful loss of a son and the other is a lady on disability because of a 29 year drug addiction. She told me a gruesome story riddled with drug addiction and alcohol abuse that has lead to personal injury and a wrecked family. He shared how the slow loss of his son changed him emotionally through the pain but in another breath said " God did it" "he is in a better place" "I would be selfish to want him back and not want him to be in heaven away from the pain and suffering of this world". She said "It is a miracle I am alive and I want the world to know about my Jesus and how He saves people". When talking to these amazing people it was obvious how real heaven is to them. I want that perspective of hope but I don't want to go through what they went through.

3Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Get To Know Me Like I Did

This has been a great year for me. Both good and bad but thankful for all that has happened. The big thing this year has been self awareness. I wanted to share a couple tools I have used to become more self-aware. I was amazed by how unaware I was as I took these tests. I really thought I new myself better : )

The Myers Briggs Test was the first one I took. I started with a paid version but here is a link for a free one. I have used it for friends and family and even compared my personal results to the one I paid for and it has not failed me yet.

Pay-Myers Briggs
Free-Myers Briggs
My results-Google Doc

Strengths Finder-This one cost me $25. If you buy the book you get a code to take the test online. Here are my top 5 out of 35 strengths.

Below are my top five themes of talent, ranked in the order revealed by my responses to the Clifton StrengthsFinder.

How well do you think these themes describe me?

Input

People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Futuristic

People who are especially talented in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.

Activator

People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Arranger

People who are especially talented in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this ability. They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.

Ideation

People who are especially talented in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

To learn more about the Clifton StrengthsFinder and how you can discover your top five themes, visit http://strengths.gallup.com

And my favorite tool for self-awareness and growth has been the Chazown spiritual gifts test. Here are the results.  

CORE VALUES

• Character
• Efficiency
• Faithfulness
• Family
• Grace
• Growth

2

SPIRITUAL GIFTS

• Administration / Guidance
• Encouragement
• Music
• Teaching
• Wisdom

This assessment was free!

We don't know what we don't know

The other day I had to bring our Buick in for a tune up because it wasn't running so well.  I have learned that I have no skills when it comes to fixing our cars and so when I need work done, I should seek a professional right away! So, I went to see my mechanic named Dustin, who told me, "Joe you're only running on three out of six cylinders".  So I said,  "Wow, that sounds pretty bad, let's go ahead and get 'em running again buddy".  Dustin laughed because he knows me well enough to know that I had no idea what a cylinder was or that I even had six to start with. So he took me into his garage where he had several engines tore down and he showed me exactly what needed to be done. The next day, when I went to pick up our truck, Dustin told me he could only fix two of the three bad cylinders and if I wanted to get the other one fixed, he would need to tear into the engine to see why the remaining one wasn't working like it should. He also informed me that I had probably been running with two bad cylinders for awhile but didn't notice because when two are gone they balance out "the miss",  so you don't feel it and therefore wouldn't know it. But when the third one went out, everything changed.  The situation got me thinking about life. How many areas in life am I running on less than all cylinders?  And what if two of my cylinders are out, but it seems to me like everything is fine?When it really isn't? How do I even know I need to fix anything? I guess there are times when we just don't know something is wrong.  But just like with our truck, I think when we don't know, God protects us until something changes or He puts someone around us to help us identify the problem. Sometimes we just don't know what we don't know and it takes someone else either telling us or simply being an example.

My Proclamation!

Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider how to STIR UP one another to love and good works, not NEGLECTING to MEET TOGETHER, as is the habit of some, but ENCOURAGING one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near."

I need to be STIRRED UP to love and do good works. I will not NEGLECT being with my church family because they stir me and ENCOURAGE me as the day of Christ's return gets closer and closer. 

Some things I have been doing

I feel like I should apologize for neglecting my blog but I have been trying not to force anything and maybe needed a break to focus on other things. So here is what I have been doing...

 Not to be a winer but having 3 kids compared to 2 is way harder and a lot more work. It is worth every diaper change, spill, spanking, tantrum, bottle and budget adjustment but it is still a much different dynamic than having only 2. If it wasn't for my amazing wife I would be toast. She cooks, cleans, does my laundry and is always up to take care of any dirty job that is waiting for us when we wake up in the morning. She is my hero! I help as much as I know how but to be honest I can't keep up like i know I should. On the flip side the rewards have been more than gratifying. Instead of going out with friends as much as we used to I am very satisfied to be home holding and feeding our new baby boy. Matthew is a breath of fresh air. He is the sweetest squishiest most cuddly little thing I have ever had in my arms. I could sit and play with him for hours, listening to his little boy sounds while I do things I would not normally do just to make him smile. My girls are getting smarter every day. I love introducing them to new things and encouraging their creativity. We read, play, swim, swing, slide and watch movies. Life is good.

 I have been doing a lot of reading and working on some changes in the way I lead worship. I might blog more about this specifically later but for now I just want to catch up. The idea of becoming more self aware has been a big thought with me lately and I have been working on ways of learning my strengths and weakness's. It has been a little painful as I have been disillusioned in some areas but also very freeing. For instance I am not as good of a plumber or construction worker as I thought I was : (. Katrina and I have been working on getting healthy by learning to get our eating under control. She is amazing at it, I may come around. I have been reading Galatians and Ephesians lately. These books have made me realize I have been living under some legalism and that it is easy for legalism to slip into our thinking habits. I shared a story at Riverzedge on Sunday from the book Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan. If you are not familiar with it please get it and read it with your family. It has been an easy way to teach and learn big truths about faith. I know this post is a little bit unordinary for me but I just wanted to let things flow.

Video Blog Men and meekness

Forget You

Last Sunday Sam Roberts wrapped up the series called "Forget You". Here are a couple things I took away from the message on Sunday.

1. Romans 12:2 is a relevant verse and always rocks me out of a rut. 
2. There is no formula for living a life that is less of me and more of Him. It is a journey. 
3. The patterns in my life can be changed by the renewing of my mind.
4. My mind is renewed when I spend time with God.

God give me the faith to seek you daily so that I am not always caught up in my old selfish patterns. Help me to change by renewing my mind so I will know Your good, pleasing and perfect will. Here is a link to the message http://www.lifechurch.tv/watch

Video Blog

We have been singing this song at RiverzEdge. I love the simplicity behind it. Its part of what makes it so beautiful when we sing it together as a church.

Get That Boom Boom Boom

Loved the story and the moves from Turf last night on Americas Got Talent. Gave it all up to do one thing well.

Creative Break

Encourage

Most if not all people are hard enough on themselves and the last thing they need is
someone pointing out their faults. John Maxwell points out that 4 out of 5 people don't
think highly of themselves or see themselves as they should. What I am learning is that
most people don't need advice as much as they just need to feel loved and cared for.
Most times its best to not even say a word. Even if you see a fault be careful about
sharing it, most times you don't need to because God is already working. A couple rules
I live by are...

1. Wait for them to ask for my opinion
2. Talk less, listen more "tough one"
3. Do I have enough influence to really make a difference?
4. Encourage, encourage, encourage
5. Encourage, encourage, encourage
6. Did I mention ENCOURAGE?



I got the opportunity to see and hear Chuck Swindoll live and in person a few years ago
and I will never forget when he said "in every situation be dripping with grace".

Loving this!

I think you're awesome!

"If you think too highly of yourself, no one else will."
Criag Groeschel  

"Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips." 

Proverbs 27:2

afternoon inspiration

Criticism

I tend to take criticism hard. It is never easy to hear how unhappy you make people but criticism (from the right people) makes me take an honest evaluation of myself and that is never a bad thing. Here are ten things I have been thinking to myself this week after some healthy constructive criticism...

1. You will never make everyone happy so stop thinking    you can. 
2. Get people around you. You get more done that way and its more fun to work with a team.
3. Take the time to know what you should be doing and what you shouldn't 
4. It is better to do less well, then do a lot a little...Finish well
5. Be dripping with grace in every situation and always give people the benefit of the doubt 
6. End TXT messages with a smiley face so people don't read it the wrong way 
7. Some conversions are not for TXT messaging :) 
8. My family (kids and wife) comes before the church :) 
9. God builds the church and still uses me in spite of who I really am 
10. If I am not connected to the vine my spirit withers and my flesh gets out of control. 

Here are a couple quotes I borrowed form Mark Driscoll's Facebook page this week...

 "Don't let the voices of 100's who love you be erased by a singular voice of 1 who hates you today.Do the math.You are loved."

 "If you don't want to be criticized it's simple —don’t say anything, don't do anything, and don't have anything."

 "Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable." (Luke 6:22 MSG)

Doing stuff gets you better stuff

Something I have been noticing lately is that when we are involved and busy doing the right stuff opportunity seems to show herself all over the place. But when we are being lazy and just sitting around doing nothing, nothing ever seems to come. I am pretty sure it has to do with attitude. So whats your attitude like today?

Leadership

Everyone has a position or a platform of leadership. Maybe your a leader in your home or at work but the truth is you are a leader and have influence somewhere.I have met so many men and women who think that leadership is only for some chosen elite and that they are "not gifted in that area" I have also noticed that the best leaders are the ones who don't think they got what it takes, when really they have the hardest parts figured out already. For some reason leaders have been able to slip through the cracks  because of their skill and the important stuff gets sidelined and even overlooked. For instance as a musician/worship leader I would get asked to do a lot based on my skill as a guitar player and singer rather than the things that really mattered like compassion and character. There came a time in my life when I had to simply stop honing my skills and relearn having compassion for people and living with character. Walking down this road I have discovered there are two different kinds of leaders, dictators and servants. Lets get over ourselves and start washing some feet.

Take a creative break and watch this video

Zeal and Fervor

Romans 12:11 says "never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord" I don't know about you but I could use a healthy does of both zeal and fervor, and oh yeah some help balancing the two. Tell me this how do you balance your intensity (zeal) with warmth and feeling (fervor)? I am working on balancing the two in all areas of my life. How about you?