The Best Question Ever
Am listening to this series of podcasts by Andy Stanley (look him up in itunes – his sermons are free). He talks about always asking yourself this question before you do anything or make any decision. This question has the power to foolproof your decisions and keep you safe from doing things you will regret (and some of these things are irreversible). After listening to the first 3 sermons on this topic, i have to agree with him. in fact, i feel so convicted by it that i am sharing it with all of us. The question isn’t something new, or a quotable quote, or a revelation, or something that will cause you to ask “Why haven’t i thought of it before”, because, you definitely have thought about it before yet personalizing it is an entirely different thing.
The best question to yourself ever is:
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.
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What is the wise thing for me to do?
In light of my past experiences, my future hopes and dreams, my ideals, what is the wise thing for me to do?
Take note, it’s not what is the wise thing to do, or what is the right thing to do. A bad/wrong/immoral decision is usually preceded by a series of unwise decisions. Decisions made that may be ok for some others, but in light of your past experiences, and your weaknesses, becomes a not-ok thing for you.
It’s not about whether it’s the right thing to do also. There are a lot of issues today that weren’t addressed in the bible. The bible had nothing on internet porn. Does that mean it’s ok to view internet porn? Ditto for doing drugs. Can a man heap burning coals on himself without getting burnt?
It’s the permissible-but-may-not-be-beneficial decisions that are more tricky. For e.g if you used to have a problem with gambling addiction, is it a wise thing for you to play cards with your friends, even if it was played without money? Will the act of playing itself cause you to think of venturing into your old ways? Playing cards isn’t wrong, but is it the wisest thing to do for you?
i know of a brother who swore off drinking, not even a little, not even when out with christian friends; just because his past wrong-doings were mostly committed while under the influence of alcohol. i respect that. It’s not wrong to drink; but is it the wisest thing to do for you?
It’s not wrong to travel alone with a girl, but is it the wisest thing to do? Billy Graham made a promise that he will never travel alone (even in a car) with a member of the opposite gender. He also promised never to counsel a girl. That’s why his life is so clean.
Asking yourself these questions can cause you to make some unpopular decisions at times. i reckon though, the payout is worth every effort spent. I will live a blameless life – victorious even.
The sermon series were a good reminder for me to keep to my personal commandments that i have set for myself a while back. I might have slackened off in one or two areas a little but i gotta start asking myself again “What is the wise thing for me to do?”
Check the sermons out!
Picture this….
….being in a state of indignation during a paper, because the invigilator announces at 4:30pm that you only have half an hr left to finish your paper, and you’ve only started on your final 33 1/3 marks question 15 mins before. You ask in a louder-than-normal + extremely confident tone of voice,”Isn’t the exam until 6pm?” bearing in mind that the classroom is deathly silent for obvious reasons, to which your exam-mates reply, simply with a blank stare and a continuation to their writing.
You take a minute, and start to put the pieces together: your other papers have been from 7-10pm. So if your paper started at 2pm, it makes perfect sense for it to end by 5pm.
Face to palm, tail between legs moment. It’s just like testing your new John Mayer-esque falsetto voice in the bathroom while pooping, thinking your whole family has gone out, not realising that your sis is still in the next door, praying fervently.
I hope the blush doesn’t betray the look of nonchalance i had to portray to save whatever is left of my male pride.
p.s i hope my doctor handwriting for the last question is legible enough.
A Good Reminder…..
…..as i attempt to balance priorities this period. Need wisdom and conviction!
(thanks nick!)
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.
The Good:
a heavy workout session + 4km on the treadmill on Tuesday.
The Bad:
immediately wiping that out with a dinner of mushroom pasta with cream sauce + 2 slices of pizza + 2 small portions of Aglio Olio + cheese platter + grilled vegetables (oily like no tomorrow!) + 2 glasses of riesling lychee wine.
The Ugly:
wiping out in advance my next 2 workouts by having a claypot of greasy, spicy ayam buah keluak for dinner + post dinner cheesecake @ TCC today.
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there is no hope for me.
The Parable of the Car Doors
Imagine you are in a car, and this car is fitted with state of the art technology. Bullet proof windows and windscreens, bullet and bomb-proof car body, un-deflatable tyres, jack-proof doors (can’t be forcibly opened from the outside) and other high-tech stuff you can think of.
Now, you are going to drive your car into the nastiest neighbourhood in the world – murder is a daily occurance, kids run around with real guns and real bullets, rape takes place more often than you think it would; without this state-of-the-art car, you probably wouldn’t last even an hour inside this neighbourhood.
What would be the safest option here?
1) lock 1 door
2) lock 2 doors
3) lock 3 doors
4) lock all the doors
Common sense right? Who in their right mind would choose options 1-3? Without locking all your doors, the state of the art technology, bullet proof equipment etc would all be rendered useless. The bad guys would just gain access to you through your unlocked car doors.
Isn’t it the same for our spiritual lives? What seems so commonsensical when used on a car analogy doesn’t seem as commonsensical when used on our spiritual lives.
The person sitting inside the car is our spiritual being. The car doors are our spiritual safeguards. The nasty neighbourhood is this world we live in. The bad guys are all the things that draw us away from God. Now, as much as we may have excellent mentoring, ministering services, life-changing praise and worship, good, clean and fun fellowship with fellow believers, it only takes one “car door” to be left unlocked for the devil to gain leverage on us. It could be the unlocked car door of non-accountability, the unlocked car door of lack of fellowship, the unlocked car door of a secret life, the unlocked car door of a hidden sin, the unlocked car door of bitterness, envy, jealousy, lust and so many more probable things. Just leaving one of our doors unlocked, while better than leaving every one unlocked, does drastically decrease the effectiveness of your other safeguards.
We cannot choose not to go through the neighbourhood, until we the day we die. While, as Christians, we do have much more support than people who go through life alone, there’s a need to always be alert to the doors we may have intentionally or unintentionally left unlocked.
For guys, the top 3 car doors left unlocked have been the same throughout generations. They are power, money, and lust. Of course, under these major doors, there are always smaller doors to be discussed, for e.g, it’s not enough to know you have a problem with lust. You need to shut and lock other doors with regards to lust. E.g, not watching porn (feeding your eyes), training your eyes to look away from a scantily-clad woman, or avoid movies with heavy sexual scenes. If you have a problem with money, it’s probably wise to lock up the door of hoarding wealth (e.g make a resolution to give X amt of money to charity per mth), lock the door of irregular tithing etc.
David’s unlocked door was lust and unaccountability
Saul’s unlocked door was pride and self-centeredness
Judas’s unlocked door was the love of money
Samson’s unlocked door was lust and a callous attitude
Solomon’s unlocked door was not finding contentment in God
What is your unlocked door? Are you intentionally leaving it (them) unlocked. Shall conclude with an earlier post from Shirls:
In the wrestle between sinful desires and godly desires, which one would win?
The one that I feed.
To relent to the cravings of the flesh
And gorge with internet pornography
And binge on romance novels or series
Is to fertilise emotional insecurities
And cultivate a lust unrestrained
These monsters will be your masters
Exam Revision (i)
i shall use wordpress to aid my exam revision!
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THE NATURE & ROLE OF LEADERSHIP IN CHANGE MANAGEMENT
- a manager is concerned about maintaining the current organisation (doing things right); a leader is concerned with change (doing the right things)
- a manager sets goals, allocates resources, identifies stepping stones to set goals; a leader creates the vision
- a manager ensures the availability of competent staff, and organises their work activities; a leader focuses on communicating the new direction, aligning people to the vision (“sell” it to them), and create coalitions (combination/alliances) committed to getting there.
- a manager ensures plans are accomplished by controlling the and problem solving (“push” method); a leader motivates and inspires others to achieve the vision (“pull” factor).
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- beware of the glorification of individual heroes! (the leader’s important but so is the team – no man is an island)
- collective leadership groups can be fragile – it’s difficult to maintain harmony.
- in a collective leadership setting, individual leaders’ know-how is crucial: if they lose touch, their scope of influence will be diminished – people will flock to other leaders. (my note: this is true even in a singular leadership setting – they may have other leaders within the organisation to flock to, but they may flock to other organisations with more competent leadership).
- when resources are limited and accommodating different interests is difficult, the ability to deliver change may depend on the leader’s personal and interpersonal skills (my note: very true, even though there are organisations that run on the fuel of a charismatic leadership – which can be pretty dangerous – the organisation has to potential to crash with that leader’s demise)
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Kotter’s (i think it’s that Kotter from Harvard) Checklist for Leading Change:
1) Establish a sense of urgency (U)
2) Form a powerful coalition (C)
3) Create a vision (V)
4) Communicate the vision (C)
5) Empower others (to act on the vision) (E)
6) Plan for and create short term wins (aim for the “low hanging fruits” first to build momentum and boost morale) (P)
7) Capitalise on early wins and motivate others to pursue further change – similar to 6) (C)
Institutionalise new approaches (I)
UCVCEPCI. Hmm…this needs to be an acronym for something.
Under (urgency)
Crap (coalition)
Valerie (vision)
Contracts (communicate vision)
Extreme (Empower)
Personal (Plan for early victories)
Concussion (capitalise)
Internally (institutionalise)
haha…. sorry Val.
Do I Have to Fall Asleep with Roses in my Hand?
lyrics are so poignantly beautiful…. sigh….
