So my good friend sent me this link. I think that this is a lot of what I've been doing over the past few weeks. I started reading a new book (which I'm sure I'll talk about later) called Getting Things Done (Thanks Darren and Jack for always talking about it) and when I saw this video I realized that I'm changing a lot of the things I do to try and make it better. Also, I like the animation and inspires me to create fun things like this for ministry purposes as well!
MAKE IT BETTER from Clim on Vimeo.
Thanks Tristan and Jason for the link! :-)
Friday, February 25, 2011
How Strong Are YOU?
If you're on my email list, you might remember that I said that I wanted to start using my blog more, and sharing what I've been learning. Well, this is the first post of that nature; we shall see how this goes.
If you knew me 3 months ago and asked me what the last book I read was, I would have replied, "Imaginary Jesus, by Matt Mikalatos, and before that, who knows!" Well, now that answer would be, "I've read 4 books in the past month!" I mean, I don't know what has happened, but I used to hate reading books, more than anything, but now I am starting to enjoy it.
When I started work with Cru we took this "test" type thing to see what our strengths are. It's called Strengths Finder 2.0 (pretty fancy huh?). When you buy the book and take the online test, it tells you a little bit about what it thinks your strengths are, and I would say that mine are pretty right on...here are my top 5:
(1) Belief
(2) Learner
(3) Responsibility
(4) Harmony
(5) Developer
Over the next week or so I think I want to take a look at each of these strengths more closely to see how they actually play out in my work, relationships, and free time (because I think they do).
I'd love for you to share your thoughts about how you see these strengths play out in how WE interact with each other, I think that might be fun.
But you might be saying, what does this have to do with reading books....Well, first of all, one of those four book I read in the past month was NOT Strengths Finder 2.0, BUT I think this past month my Learner strength has been showing itself in my desire to learn more through reading.
Well, there you go, we'll see how this goes. :-)
If you knew me 3 months ago and asked me what the last book I read was, I would have replied, "Imaginary Jesus, by Matt Mikalatos, and before that, who knows!" Well, now that answer would be, "I've read 4 books in the past month!" I mean, I don't know what has happened, but I used to hate reading books, more than anything, but now I am starting to enjoy it.
 |
| This is the cover of the book...in case you were wondering. |
(1) Belief
(2) Learner
(3) Responsibility
(4) Harmony
(5) Developer
Over the next week or so I think I want to take a look at each of these strengths more closely to see how they actually play out in my work, relationships, and free time (because I think they do).
I'd love for you to share your thoughts about how you see these strengths play out in how WE interact with each other, I think that might be fun.
But you might be saying, what does this have to do with reading books....Well, first of all, one of those four book I read in the past month was NOT Strengths Finder 2.0, BUT I think this past month my Learner strength has been showing itself in my desire to learn more through reading.
Well, there you go, we'll see how this goes. :-)
Friday, February 4, 2011
Here's a PSU Park Block Riddle for you...
Q: What do you get when you cross a Pantheistic Agnostic Polytheist, Pagan, and a Unitarian Universalist with two Christians sharing their faith at PSU?
A: You get a 2 hour long conversation that moves down the benches in the Park Blocks to try and stay in the sun and talks about lots of different topics!
Ok, I'll explain where I get this conclusion; it's from personal experience! This is what can happen any day you head over to PSU to talk with students about Jesus. So, just how did this come about? Well, here is a bit of the story:
My friends James, Amie and I were teamed up to go out and start conversations this past Wednesday. Amie was going to start off praying while James and I initiated a conversation. We were using a new tool (well, at least new for me) call Perspective Cards {click the link to watch a video about them} to help start conversations and get an idea of what students at Portland State believe.
We started talking to a guy named David, who, though our conversation with the cards said he was a Pantheistic Agnostic Polytheist (those were the cards he picked for is view of God). While we were talking to him the sun was moving and we kept getting caught in the shade so we would scoot down the bench to stay in the sun, but there was a girl who was sitting at the other end of the bench. While our conversation continued (and we kept getting closer to the girl) she started listening into our conversation, and actually started asking a couple questions too!
Then shortly after she started asking questions, she was joined by a friend as well, who also would ask questions, as well as share his perspective. The girl's name is Eva, and she said she is a Pagan, and her friend's name is Andrew and he is what I would consider a Unitarian Universalist (all religions are pretty much the same and all lead to the same "source") even though he didn't actually say "I'm a Unitarian Universalist."
The best part of this conversation was that God was really just speaking to these people, and I was able to share the Gospel with them, even though they still wouldn't believe it. These three points of view are pretty much what I have encountered the most at PSU. There tends to be a belief that there isn't an absolute truth and that Jesus just can't be the only way. But I think what is really awesome is that for those two hours that James and I were talking with these three students, they were able to experience God's love and hear the message of His Son in a whole new way. Usually Jesus is presented at PSU by the street preachers screaming and yelling at the students, but they were really excited to hear what we believe and let their opinions actually be heard.
So, here are my big takeaways from that two hour conversation:
1) I really need to continue to learn more about my faith! Being surrounded by believers most of the time means I don't usually have to defend what I believe in, so I'm getting a bit rusty.
2) Amie's prayers were awesome! Yes, she sat in the cold and prayed for James and I and the people we were talking with for those two hours. Awesome job, Friend! :-)
3) There are a lot of people who believe really strange things about Jesus and the Bible, and we need to be prepared to stand firm.
Well, this is a long post, but it was a long conversation that went in every direction, but still it was awesome! Please pray for David, Eva and Andrew as the Lord works in their hearts.
A: You get a 2 hour long conversation that moves down the benches in the Park Blocks to try and stay in the sun and talks about lots of different topics!
Ok, I'll explain where I get this conclusion; it's from personal experience! This is what can happen any day you head over to PSU to talk with students about Jesus. So, just how did this come about? Well, here is a bit of the story:
 | ||
| Using Perspective Cards (http://perspectivecards.com/) |
We started talking to a guy named David, who, though our conversation with the cards said he was a Pantheistic Agnostic Polytheist (those were the cards he picked for is view of God). While we were talking to him the sun was moving and we kept getting caught in the shade so we would scoot down the bench to stay in the sun, but there was a girl who was sitting at the other end of the bench. While our conversation continued (and we kept getting closer to the girl) she started listening into our conversation, and actually started asking a couple questions too!
Then shortly after she started asking questions, she was joined by a friend as well, who also would ask questions, as well as share his perspective. The girl's name is Eva, and she said she is a Pagan, and her friend's name is Andrew and he is what I would consider a Unitarian Universalist (all religions are pretty much the same and all lead to the same "source") even though he didn't actually say "I'm a Unitarian Universalist."
The best part of this conversation was that God was really just speaking to these people, and I was able to share the Gospel with them, even though they still wouldn't believe it. These three points of view are pretty much what I have encountered the most at PSU. There tends to be a belief that there isn't an absolute truth and that Jesus just can't be the only way. But I think what is really awesome is that for those two hours that James and I were talking with these three students, they were able to experience God's love and hear the message of His Son in a whole new way. Usually Jesus is presented at PSU by the street preachers screaming and yelling at the students, but they were really excited to hear what we believe and let their opinions actually be heard.
So, here are my big takeaways from that two hour conversation:
1) I really need to continue to learn more about my faith! Being surrounded by believers most of the time means I don't usually have to defend what I believe in, so I'm getting a bit rusty.
2) Amie's prayers were awesome! Yes, she sat in the cold and prayed for James and I and the people we were talking with for those two hours. Awesome job, Friend! :-)
3) There are a lot of people who believe really strange things about Jesus and the Bible, and we need to be prepared to stand firm.
Well, this is a long post, but it was a long conversation that went in every direction, but still it was awesome! Please pray for David, Eva and Andrew as the Lord works in their hearts.
 |
| Gotta Love Portlandia! ;-) |
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