Journal Notes: Part Two

Okay so here’s Part Two of random notes I’ve made in my journals over the last few years.  I’ve not attributed the authors of the quotes but they range from Thomas Merton to Thomas Edison.

·      The power of prayer is in the One who hears, not the one who prays…
·      If you want more people to eat carrots, then change the color of the carrots…
·      Leadership is a role and not a title….
·      Don’t try to describe the ocean if you’ve never seen it….
·      Purity of heart is to will one thing…
·      We were created to swim in the deep end….
·      What you do thunders so loudly I can hardly hear what you are saying…
·      We judge ourselves on our intentions – We judge others on their actions…
·      Once upon a time is now…
·      Sometimes it’s hard to find the pixie dust…
·      Always bump the lamp…
·      The task is to clean the room – the purpose is to make you happy….
·      Leadership begins in the mirror….
·      Prayer is the common language of the Jesus community…
·      Only through prayer can the prosperity of a church be increased or even maintain…
·      Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered…
·      You are only as deep as the last person you served….
·      Jesus does not call the world to go to church, He calls the church to go to world…
·      Life begins when your youngest child’s pet dies….
·      Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up…
·      A story is not a story until you tell someone….
·      Episcobaptispresbgatonalist….
·      The opposite of poverty is enough…
·      Talent is cheaper than table salt – what separates the talented individual from the successful one is hard work…
·      Captain Kirk wasn’t the smartest guy on the Enterprise…
·      When you are screwing up and no one says anything, it means they’ve given up…
·      Brick walls are opportunities to discover how badly we want something…
·      If you wait long enough people will surprise and impress you…
·      The first penguin takes the biggest risk…
·      If you put people in open systems they will want to contribute and contribute well…
·      Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God…

Journal Notes: Part One

So far in 2011 I’ve been a reluctant blogger.  I’ve spent more time processing in my journal with pen and paper than posting online.  But I’m entering into a week with a different sort of rhythm (since I’m not preaching this Sunday and don’t have a message to prepare) and so I spent part of the day looking back through my journals as some of the notes I’ve made over the years.  I stated jotting down a list of some of the ministry lessons I’ve learned from a variety of voices.  Even though it comes across a bit as “bumper sticker theology,” it seems worth sharing (and posting).  So here’s Part 1 of Journal Notes:

• People are more interested in what you are learning than in what you know.
• Clay experiences the greatest joy when it doesn’t attempt to be the potter…
• Its better to have a light in the tunnel than a light at the end of the tunnel…
• We serve a God who comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable…
• The questions you ask will determine the ministry you do…
• If there are no tears in the writer there will be no tears in the reader…
• Janis Joplin was right - “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose…”
• We are defined by our cure – not our disease…
• Failures aren’t fatal – they’re directional…
• If we keep doing what we’ve always done then we will get what we’ve always got…(or at least we won’t get what we want)
• The only thing I contribute to my redemption is my sin…
• God is attracted to weakness and humility…
• Inefficient structures may be necessary for effective ministry…
• Success is best measured by the stories we tell, the people we honor and the language we use…
• Abounding in God’s work can distract me from abiding in God’s love…
• Parthenogenesis never leads to progress…
• Its best to quit being clever and look people in the eyes and tell the truth…
• If you hang in longer than your friends think you should – you give God more room to work…
• We all live just one day at a time – but often we are living the wrong day…
• What we call normalcy might just be massive denial and illusion…
• A jewel needs the proper setting for light to show its brilliance…
• You come to recognize someone’s voice through familiarity…
• If you are bored with your devotional life there’s a good chance that Jesus is even more bored than you are…
• Give up certainty and be satisfied with clarity…
• Sin happens…
• If we can’t be holy we can at least be weird…
• No one is meant to be a cloud without rain…
• Jesus invites rather than dictates…
• Only God can make it rain…
• We are simul justus et peccata…
• It is the revelation of God that forms us…
• Joy is one of the most powerful connections to the nature and presence of God…
• Don’t move any faster than you can on your knees…
• It’s all good!