Why VISION is Important

Imagine, for a minute, that you’re on an airplane.  You take off and you begin to realize that the crew is very nice.  They are animated and helpful.  There are lots of in-flight games, movies, and activities for passengers of all ages.  The food is good.  And friendships are being made.  Not only that, but you are being asked to help out and serve other passengers.  Sounds like a flight you’d like to be on, right?  As a matter of fact, there’s only one real problem with this flight….You don’t know where it’s headed.  Do you still want to be on it? 

The truth is that it doesn’t matter one bit how fun, entertaining, and busy the flight is.  It doesn’t matter how friendly the attendants or pilots are.  It doesn’t matter how many people you meet, how good the food is, or how engaging the movie is.  If I don’t know where I’m going I start to get frustrated and eventually I want off!

This is why vision is important.  We all want to know where we’re going.  If the ride is fun along the way….great.  But with no vision it doesn’t matter how much fun.  That’s why it’s important that as leaders we know how to cast and inspire vision in our organizations.  Because I work for a church, I’m mostly speaking in that context.  I think there are 4 types of vision in the context of church ministry…and maybe in other organizations as well.

1.  Universal Vision – This is the vision that has been given to Christians from Christ in Matthew 28.  We commonly refer to it as ”The Great Commission”.  It’s the vision that all Christians are called to work. 

2.  Local Vision – This vision is the unique vision to a local church.  God has chosen His church to be the primary vehicle in which the Great Commission (Great Vision) is accomplished.  Every local body should cast vision tailored to it’s constituents.  This vision should be taught and caught regularly so that there is no question in anyone’s mind where they are going. 

3.  Departmental Vision – This is vision that is tailored to individual departments within the organization yet it translates into the overall unique local vision.  For example our Small Group vision at FBC is “God’s People Doing Life Together”. 

4.  Seasonal Vision – This type of vision is necessary throughout the life of an organization and fits into the overall vision but isn’t necessarily the same as the overall vision.  It may be a sermon series or a “Fall” theme.  People get on board with seasonal visions during the season in which it is cast but know that it is only an smaller element of the larger local vision. 

Each type of vision is important and must be considered when leading organizations.  What is the universal vision?  How does that impact our local vision, and what seasonal and departmental visions help us to accomplish the local vision and ultimately the universal vision?  Once the destination has been decided and communicated to the people on board, more people will want to go with you.

I Gave up Blogging for Lent

Not really, but I took a break during the appropriate timeframe so that ’s the excuse I’m using.  Feels weird getting back into it but here goes.

Tornados, Snakes, and Scorpions

I lived in West Texas for 20 years and in that time I never saw a scorpion or a poisonous snake, and I only saw 1 tornado.  I’ve been in Florida for a little over a year and this past week I saw all three….IN MY HOUSE/Backyard!  Last Monday night while watching Television, Candice and I found a baby Water Moccassin chilling on our kitchen floor.  After beating it to death with my golf Driver (since I don’t play golf I’m glad it could be used for something) we now have a chip in our kitchen tile.  And don’t think for a second the little sucker tried to get away while being beaten.  Oh no….He accepted the challenge and started striking away….He lost that battle. 

Tuesday morning (exactly 12 hours after the snake incident) our neighborhood gets shaken up by what the weather channel called a “possible” tornado.  The “possible” tornado managed to pick up and faceplant my 200 lb BBQ grill and hurl pieces of my neighbor’s shed into my back yard.  In a community right near ours, a car was flipped in its driveway.  There are no tornado sirens in our area so since we were home and not watching TV, we had no way of knowing it was coming. 

Yesterday topped off the week.  Candice was gathering laundry together and suddenly started yelling for me.  I’m thinking, “oh no, another snake” (she HATES snakes, by the way).  I run upstairs only to find a SCORPION in the corner of our bedroom ready to fight!  It lost…but these events have me wondering…where in the world do we live??

Credit Cards or Not??

 I was having an interesting debate about Credit Cards with my friend and Dave Ramsey enthusiast Chris, (who is a financial guru by the way and I have a lot of respect for his financial wisdom).   Chris is, to say the least, not a fan of the Credit Card system.  He, like Dave Ramsey and others, believes in a “cash only” system that protects individuals and families from unnecessary debt.  But are Credit Cards all bad?    I would like to think they aren’t.  There are certainly things that can go wrong with the use of credit cards if the proper boundaries aren’t put in place.  For example, finance charges.  This is where the companies make most of their money.   I refuse to “pay” a credit card company to use their card and the way around it is to not hold a balance. 

Secondly, as my friend points out, research indicates that people who use credit cards spend more money on average than those who use cash.  I trust and would whole heartedly agree with  Chris’ research.   There’s no question that Candice and I spend more money on food (eating out and grocery shopping) than we would if we used cash only. 

But in my opinion, this is the reason for moderation and boundaries rather than throwing it out altogether.  Candice and I use our credit card for all of our monthly expenses.  At the end of the month we pay it off in full.  Here’s why.  First, we accumulate points.  The point system allows for us to earn free rewards.  We actually did all of our Christmas shopping one year with Credit Card points and did not pay a dime!  After doing the math, we actually saved money (even with the expenses we made on our credit card during the previous month) and our Credit Card company had to pay for our Christmas presents. 

Since that time, and since Candice and I travel quite a bit, we have switched CC companies to one where we exclusively earn airline awards.  This past year we paid for 2 flights and those were at Christmas time due to black out dates! 

I am a firm believer in “all things in moderation”.  And I think if a person/family is able to use a credit card in moderation, use a working budget, and pay it off at the end of the month, never holding a balance, then go for it!  Get your rewards and get paid to spend money!  If you enjoy a beer now and then, drink a beer.  But if you can’t drink without losing control then you better stay away from it.  Same is true with money.  If your budget doesn’t allow for it, don’t buy it.  If you can’t pay it off at the end of the month, cancel it!  Be disciplined and your CC will end up working for you.

Freezing!

In case you think it doesn’t get cold in Florida….We got down under 20 degrees in some places in our area last night. Right now it’s 27! I found out last night that this is actually a big problem for the Orange and Strawberry farmers. I feel sorry for all the tourists who came down this week to “escape” the cold weather!

Freezing!

In case you think it doesn’t get cold in Florida….We got down under 20 degrees in some places in our area last night. Right now it’s 27! I feel sorry for all the tourists who came down this week to escape the cold weather!

Dear Rick Warren Haters…

Dear Rick Warren Haters who ARE CHRISTIANS,

Just what exactly is your beef?  Did you hear his prayer?  How many people around the world do you think heard the SHEMA, a declaration of God’s glory, and a proclomation of the authority of Christ?  It’s unbelieveable that a representative of Jesus is able to proclaim Christ to so many.  And yet you sit there, wallowing in your own arrogance and self righteousness, criticizing him because you may not 100% agree with him on certain non-fundamentals of our faith.  Your nobility is noted but your arrogance is appauling. 

Sincerely,

Don’t be a Pharisee

 

Dear Rick Warren Haters who are NOT Christians,

Did you know that YOUR president whom you voted openly subscribes to the Christianity that you oppose?  Did you know he recognizes Christ as his savior and the bible as his authority.  And yet you criticize his choice of a man of like faith to offer the inaugural invocation simply because you disagree with this man’s stance on abortion?  You are every bit as closed minded as the people you accuse of the same ignorance.    How can you be so “anti-christian” and so “pro-Obama” who is a Christian?  

Sincerely,

Make up your mind

I WILL cheer for OU!

I don’t want to hear it. As a college football fan I believe in the purest sense of fanship. And, in my opinion, it must be progressive. Here is my progression of how I cheer for teams.

I cheer for Texas first
I cheer for teams from Texas 2nd.
I cheer for teams from the Big 12 Third.
…and so on.

I don’t believe in NOT cheering for OU or Texas Tech or Texas A&M just because I’m a Texas fan. That takes the fun out of it. Why would a Texas fan want an SEC team on the East Coast to win a championship over a team from their own conference? It doesn’t make any sense. Call me bandwagon if you want. I call it pureism. I’m cheering for OU to beat Florida in the National Championship Game because OU is close to home and a part of the conference that I cheer for. Plain and simple. I don’t believe in “hating”.  I’m not a Redskin fan.  I don’t cheer against teams.  I cheer for teams.  And I will cheer for OU.

Since My Last Post…

I like to take a “blogging Hiatus” every once in a while and go a few days without a post.  Maybe it’s because my mind is empty and I don’t have much to say.  So, here is what has happened in my life since my last post:

Pasco Pirates lost to Tallahassee Godby in the state 3A semi-final and were eliminated from the playoffs. 

Drama in Big “D” – The Cowboys took center stage in the world of sport’s media with drama between T.O., Tony Romo, and Jason Witten only to trump it with a win over the Giants on Sunday Night.

Class Party at my house for our Bible Fellowship Group – “Mexican Christmas”

Sam Bradford wins the Heisman disappointing the fans of the college football’s golden boy Tim Tebow. 

BCS blows it again with 2 bowl games – Cincinatti vs. VA Tech and Utah vs. Alabama.  Congratulations, Alabama.  Your reward for holding the top spot for most of the season in the BCS and only losing one game is a bowl game against UTAH!!

Notre Dame became the darlings of College football –Oh WAIT!  They already have been for a hundred years!

Got to hang out with old friends from Virginia, Kyle and Chris Jessop.   I miss those guys.

Broad Run High School (The school in VA where I used to coach) won the AA Virginia State Championship.

Spent Saturday hanging out with my In-laws

Woke up yesterday with a COLD. 

That’s been my life since my last blog post.  Watch for 2 upcoming posts on High School football this week.

…And then there were Four…

Coach McHugh reminded us in his pregame speech that we were one of 8 teams in the state of Florida in 3A still playing when we took the field on Friday night. After a long, hard fought, defensive struggle, we are now one of four. After claiming the Regional crown on Friday night with a 13-12 win, Pasco High School will have the opportunity to play for a chance to go to the 3A state championship game for the first time since 1992…and, what’s more? – I get to be a part of it. As I’ve said before, I’ve never been here. It’s always been one and done for me. But now I am – and I couldn’t ask for a better group of players and coaches to be here with. We will take the field this Friday night against a very tough Tallahassee Godby opponent that will test us in every facet of the game. It should be an interesting week and I can’t wait to get after it.  I don’t want to go home!  Sometimes I have to pinch myself to prove I’m not dreaming.  I can’t believe I GET to do this!