Big Is The New Small

Often times people are assessing their jobs, roles, callings… by asking themselves the following question over and over: “Should I stay or should I go, Should I stay or should I go…?”

Below I have outlined what I consider to be 10 Signs or Reasons It May Be Time To Move On.

10 SIGNS IT MAY BE TIME TO MOVE ON

• 1. You get an upset stomach every morning on your way to work.
• 2. At-least once a week you think the following thoughts “If so and so does (_blank__) again today I’m going to quit.”
• 3. You’ve asked God for signs that it’s time to move on and HE has spoken to you through people, places, circumstances, His Word… in other-words you’ve heard its time to move on from God in every way besides hearing His audible voice.
• 4. You can’t find anyone within a square mile radius of your job that you like, trust or believe in.
• 5. Your boss has said to you “It may be time for you to move on!”
• 6. You are 100% certain that you could have a bigger impact, be happier, put your family in a better situation etc. by moving on and the only thing that’s holding you back is fear.
• 7. You tell yourself, your spouse and your friends on a regular basis that it’s time to move on and they agree.
• 8. When you hear the phrase “Dim The Lights” or see an American Idol Contestant sent home, you begin envision greener pastures for yourself.  You then draw parallels to yourself being in the Top 10 and imagine how being kicked out of your workplace will be better for you.
• 9. March Madness is the terminology that you use to describe your workplace during the month of March.  You also think of the Final Four as being a countdown to the number of days before you put in your two week notice.
• 10. You’ve read through the 9 signs above and said to yourself “That’s the confirmation that I needed.”

Life brings us many seasons and we have to be prepared for each and every one of them.  There is always a “Time To Stay” and a “Time To Go.”  Many people are absolutely supposed to stay exactly where they are; however there is a percent who should definitely Go.

Whatever decision you make, don’t merely make it on emotions alone.  Seek wise counsel and make it a family decision.   Don’t be the miserable person sitting around saying “Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda but never Dida!”

Shh, be quiet & listen to God’s Whispers.

Share your stories, perspective & thoughts?  What are other signs that it may be time to move on?

Policy is defined as a course of action, guiding principle, or procedure considered expedient, prudent, or advantageous.  In other words a policy is supposed to guide things and make them overall more advantageous.  The problem with policies is that although they’re intended to make things more expedient for an organization, that expediency may be to the detriment of the people the organization is attempting to serve.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people use the company line and say “We don’t or can’t do XYZ, because it’s company policy.”  Policy is fine and dandy as long as it is not the 100% trump card over people.  There are times when your organization’s little written policy should be trumped by the need of the people the policy is intended to serve.

From time to time you will be faced with a situation where you feel that in order to do the right thing and serve the needs of people, you should do “Do ABC.”   On the other-hand applicable policy insists that you should  ”Do XYZ.”  When faced with these situations, I think that it’s important to consider some version of “ABC.”  In other words put People Over Policy.

People Over Policy is not an excuse to be someone that breaks all the rules.  People Over Policy is an excuse to be like Jesus, break the rules from time to time and embrace the notion that sometimes People Trump Policy.

People Over Policy!

What do you think?  Share your thoughts about a time where People Over Policy was or should have been utilized.

Simple Question: What is “One Thing” that you learned at church this weekend?

Please Share and remember what you learned may be just the thing that others need to hear.

Ready, Set, Go!

Pastor Craig Groeschel showed up at the 11:30 experience at the NW Oklahoma City Campus of LifeChurch.tv aka “n-dub.” We got an entire experience of nearly 1,000 people secretly involved in on doing Cha’ Cha’ Slide in the middle of the church lobby once they heard the song playing.   He responded well, he actually started dancing! LOL  (The Video Was Recorded From an iPhone so excuse the quality!)

Where else can you do the Cha’ Cha’ Slide at church? Be sure you go pick up a copy of Craig’s new book, The Christian Atheist. Grab a copy here for only $9.99.

Nearly two years ago a did a post entitled Stop Hatin’ On Joel Osteen which received a lot of comments and still receives hits daily.  If I’m being totally honest, there is one thing that irritates me as a Christian and a Pastor and that’s to see Pastors, Christians and Ministries hatin’ on other Pastors, Christians and Ministries.  This is not of God and it needs to stop.

According to the urban dictionary hatin’ is defined as: Sayin’ bad things about or puttin’ someone down. This can be for various reasons: because they have something that you want, you think you have all of the answers or you think you know what they are all about — a player hater.

I don’t want to hear how Pastor Joel does this or that, I don’t want to hear how this church grew to 10,000 but only baptized this many people, I don’t want to hear how that’s the TV church and the pastor is just on the screen, I don’t want to hear that on-line ministry is not real ministry, I don’t want to hear that they are crazy and weird because the speak in tongues, I don’t want to hear that so and so let this secular group perform at their church so they must not be about Jesus, I don’t want to hear that so and so is fake and has big hair and funny looking because he’s a TV Preacher…  The list goes on and on just fill-in a hatin’ comment of choice.  I don’t want to hear it and neither should you!

We are all part of the body of Christ and all necessary to reach all people for Jesus.  Pastors and Christians hatin’ on one another is a playground for the enemy who is crouching at the door trying to kill, steal and destroy anything that matters to the heart of God.  The local Church and Local Church leaders matter to the heart of God.

There is power in both the the written and spoken tongue.  The tongue has the power of life and death… Proverbs 18:21 Use your power wisely.  If someone is hatin’ on other Pastors, call them on it.  If you are hatin’ on other pastors, STOP!

Stop Hatin’ On Other Pastors & Ministries!

What do you think?

Naysayer is defined as- a person who habitually expresses negative or pessimistic views: Despite a general feeling that things were going well, a few naysayers tried to cast gloom.

Some people are naysayers and don’t even realize it, while others are naysayers and proud of it.  If there is one thing that can drain a team, group or relationship, it’s a naysayer.  I will avoid hiring someone that I feel has naysayer type of qualities, not only will I avoid hiring them, I don’t even want to be around them.

It’s important to look at life with a cup half-full approach and with positive eyes.  It doesn’t matter whether the days are good or bad… it’s all good.

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Naysayer, If you don’t believe that every day is a good day, try missing one.

No Time For Naysayers!

Share your thoughts on the negative effects of naysayers.

Do we have it all right or do we have it all wrong? Share your thoughts!

Many people are Christian Atheists and don’t want to admit it.   My Senior Pastor Craig Groeschel’s new book Christian Atheist is releasing today, online or in a bookstore near you.

This book tackles this tough topic of Christian Atheism.  What is a Christian Atheist?

A Christian Atheist is- Someone who believes in God, but lives as though He doesn’t exist.

If you would like to win a signed copy of Christian Atheist, you can do so right here at BigIsTheNewSmall.com.  Below are the details for you enter into a random drawing for a signed copy.

1. Leave a comment and say “I’d like to win a signed copy of Christian Atheist” in the comment section below.  Say that in your own words of course.
2. Re-Tweet my tweet about winning a signed copy. “Win A Signed Copy of Craig Groeschel’s new book “Christian Atheist”? Click here & RT http://ow.ly/1pT3T“
3. You can also comment on my Facebook update as well.

I’ll pick a random winner or two this evening and 10:00 p.m. Central Time.  For more information check out ChristianAtheist.com.

Good Luck… Ready, Set, Go!

AND THE WINNER IS…  Alonso and Kara Wiley.

Thanks for your interest & thanks for reading BigIsTheNewSmall.com

In my opinion the one question that ministry leaders need to stop asking is this: “How Can We Get More Volunteers?”  Although that may seem like a good question, a better question is “How can we get more people to be carriers of the vision.”   If ministry leaders tap into how to create more vision carriers, volunteer challenges will diminish.  People will be busting down the doors to serve and excited to be a part of that particular ministry.

Ministry leaders and staff should be the chief vision carriers, leaking the vision every opportunity they get.  The same thing applies to members, attenders and volunteers.  If you believe in your church’s vision, you should be leaking it like a reporter with exclusive insider information.  Leak it and leak it often!  Adopting that “I have to share what God is doing here” mentality is what’s necessary to be a vision carrier and create vision carriers.

The One Question Ministry Leaders Need To Stop Asking is: “How Can We Get More Volunteers?”  Ministry leaders should instead begin asking these two questions: “What Is Our Vision and How Can We Create More Carriers Of The Vision?”

What are your thoughts?

The phrase “The best thing since sliced bread” and other variations are commonly used hyperbolic means of praising an invention or innovation.  Sliced bread is the arbitrary benchmark against which later innovations should be judged.

The history of the bread slicer dates back to 1912 when Otto Fredrick Rohwedder invented the the first loaf-at-a-time bread slicing machine.  This original prototype burned down in a fire and it wasn’t until 1928 that Rohwedder had a fully operational commercial machine.  The popular use of “the best thing since…” phrase comes from the fact that Wonder Bread, the first mass-marketer of sliced bread as a product, launched a 1930s ad campaign touting the innovation.

3 Reasons Why Twitter Is The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

• 1. The Bread Slicer Made The Loaf Into Smaller Pieces — Twitter Has Made The World Into Smaller Pieces: The world is becoming smaller and smaller one tweet at a time.  It is easy to access, learn from and connect people all around the world.   You will even see tweets being re-tweeted in a language different than it originated.  Twitter has made our local communities and the world abroad much smaller; in this instance smaller is definitely better. Big Is The New Small.
• 2. The Bread Slicer Broke Bread Into Slices — Twitter Is Allowing Christians and Faith-based Communities To Break Bread On-line:  Through Twitter Christians and people of faith are able to break bread and share their faith in an on-line world.  This really promotes the cause of “going into all the world” and sharing The Gospel.  All the world includes the on-line world as well.
• 3. The Bread Slicer Created Exponential Uses For Bread — Twitter Has Created Exponential Uses For Micro-blogging:  The uses for Twitter are endless.  People are staying connected, businesses are using it as an effective advertising tool, got ?’s the Twitter world has answers, breaking news, technology updates, stock info., trends, networking, research… and these uses go on and on like the Energizer Bunny.  Speaking of the Energizer Bunny, I haven’t seen him around in awhile, maybe it’s because Energizer Battery Co. now has the @energizer  bunny.

I could share a number of more reasons Why Twitter Is The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread; however I think you get the picture.   There are many new innovations that are coming out daily, although in my opinion Twitter is going to be at the top of the list for quite some time.  Maybe Twitter is the new innovation benchmark and people will begin to use the phrase, “The Best Thing Since Twitter!”

What do you think?  Is Twitter the best thing since sliced bread?  Why or Why Not?