Tuesday, 25 November 2008

Its Time To Conspire!!!

Well its that time of year again... where we all go a little bit crazy and spend way too much money on getting presents. Not only do we end up spending way too much money... but often the gift is well... 'nice', but not needed or not used again.

Why not conspire against the consumerism of Christmas and click HERE to see how you can give a gift that truly makes a difference!
If you would like to hear about a gang of people who are conspiring against Advent... then click HERE.
Below is a Video about the conspiracy.



Let me know what your thoughts are and what your plans are this Christmas to join the conspiracy.

Friday, 21 November 2008

Out Of The Office?

I was having a scrounge around the net and found these really great answering messages at churchvideoideas.com... you may just be tempted to use some of them! I have just given you a taster of 4 of them... click HERE to see the rest.

Best Out of Office Replies by Jeremy Wright

1. I am currently out at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail to get the position. Be prepared for my mood.

3. I will be unable to delete all the unread, worthless emails you send me until I return from holiday on 4 April. Please be patient and your mail will be deleted in the order it was received.

5. The e-mail server is unable to verify your server connection and is unable to deliver this message. Please restart your computer and try sending again. (The beauty of this is that when you return, you can see how many in-duh-viduals did this over and over).

8. I will be out of the office for the next 2 weeks for medical reasons… When I return, please refer to me as “Margaret” instead of “Steve”.

Thursday, 20 November 2008

Teenage Affluenza



DO SOMETHING...

Lessons From The Life of Fidel Castro



Well I have been told off for not having some meaty posts going... so I had better give some decent thoughts on this post or Elise will smack my hands!

Last week I watched a great movie called Fidel & Che... as you can guess it was about Fidel Castro and Che - revolutionaries in Cuba.
What interested me is that these guys started out campaigning against the leaders who were oppressing them... and in the end they were the oppressors.
Perhaps this is why Abraham Lincoln said, "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

Where did these men go wrong? I believe that he fell in 2 areas:
1) He wanted to stay in power
2) He stopped listening

1) Wanting to stay in power
This doesn't only happen to revolutionist... how many leaders have held on to their positions because they couldn't let go and let someone new take the reigns.
David is one of the few leaders in the Bible who did this well. He not only handed over leadership to his son Solomon, but he gathered resources and support for his runs reign.

Perhaps its fear of not 'being someone'... perhaps its fighting the demons of the unknown... perhaps its holding on to the false belief that you can do it better.

The challenge of leadership is to have a light grip... with a passionate heart for '...'.
How can you prevent yourself from becoming a bottle-neck in the organization?

2) Not Listening
Its easy to believe that you know whats right for people. But the truth is that the higher you go up in leadership the more difficult it is to be connected to the people.

As leaders our challenge is to intentionally create opportunities and spaces to hear people.
There is nothing more belittling and insulting than not being listened to!
I think that Forrest Gump's mama had it right when she gave the advice, "Forrest, you have 2 ears and one mouth. That means that you gotta listen twice as much as you talk."
Or as Larry King says, "I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening."

How are you at listening to people one on one? What percentage of the time are you talking? When the other person is talking are you listening to them or thinking about what you want to say next?
How are you at listening to those that you lead? Have you created any opportunities or spaces for people to give honest feedback? Would you listen if they did?


I must admit that before the movie I had a certain opinion of Castro... afterwards... I felt that he fell under the traps that I too often and too easily fall into.

So what are your thoughts on these two issues?

Thursday, 13 November 2008

Up For Some Laughs?

Here are a collection of some cool youtube videos to view:



And for those who like the Transformers...



and for all our singstar fans out there




and you know what they say... no pain, no gain!



and finally for something that is remotely useful...

Monday, 10 November 2008

1000's of Free QApplications For Your Blog

If you read Blogs, the chances are you write them too. Below is a video that teaches you how to access 1000's of applications for your Blog.
Enjoy!!!

Wednesday, 5 November 2008

WHY???

I have a 2 1/2 year old girl who is constantly asking the question, 'Why?'
I love it! I think we loose our wonder in life too easily. So here are some questions to get your grey matter pondering:


Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?

What is the speed of darkness?

Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up every two hours?

Are there specially reserved parking spaces for 'normal' people at the Special Olympics?

If the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?


Did you ever stop and wonder......

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze
these pink dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?'

Who was the first person to say, 'See that chicken there... I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta it's bum.'

Why do toasters always have a setting so high that could burn the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?

Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their bum when they ask where the bathroom is?

Why does your Obstetrician, Gynaecologist leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs !

If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Stop singing and read on.......

Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?


Good thoughts to ponder hey : )

Tuesday, 4 November 2008

What Are You...?

I know, I know, I have been a terrible blogger over the past month or so... I will get back into the groove. At least I have picked up my game on the Twitter front.
Its going to be short and sweet tonight as I leave you with 2 quotes and a challenge:

'It's better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life.'

Elizabeth Kenny

'Never stop trusting God to do the extravagant in your life.'
Brian Houstan


Let me leave you with this challenge... "What are you trusting God for?"

Let me know your thoughts.