Big Is The New Small

Do you know what today is?  It’s our anniversary… Some of you may be too young to remember that old Tony Toni Tone song.  It’s stuck in my head right now because today is my anniversary. You can check out the old video here and the song will be stuck in your head as well.  I met the love of my life in 1996 and shortly after meeting, I told her that she was going to marry me one day. Some people called me cocky, I called it prophetic.

I thought I would share this video from a year ago today, where our two son’s surprised us by starting their own restaurant called Anniversary Cafe.  It’s the sweetest thing ever.

I love Jesus, LaKendria & my sons!

Happy Anniversary!

14 Tweetable Love Quotes

1. Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine, love, thou art every day my Valentine!  ~Thomas Hood
2. The few hours I spend with you are worth the thousand hours I spend without you!
3. Loving is not just looking at each other, it’s looking in the same direction.
4. You need trust to love, but first you need to love in order to trust.
5. Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires.
6. Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.  ~Lao Tzu
7. I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.  ~Mother Teresa
8. We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.
9. At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet.
10. The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
11. If you want to be loved, be lovable.
12. Love is something eternal; the aspect may change, but not the essence.
13. You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. ~Dr. Seuss
14. Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not. ~C.S. Lewis

Share your favorite love quotes or thoughts on any of the above!

Today is our anniversary and our boys decided to surprise us!  We knew we had a surprise coming; however we didn’t know what to expect.  The boys came up with Anniversary Cafe and had a little help from my sister-in-law chef @brittneypirtle.  

This video may not be as popular of a video as JK Wedding Entrance, but it’s #1 in our book!

I believe history will reflect that President Bush was a much better President and even a better man than the polls, people, approval ratings, pundits, critics, partisans… reflected during the end of his term.  Praying for George W. Bush & Barack Obama the men and their families.

Life is about Perspective…

HatTip to @loswhit for sharing this video…

Late last night on our way home from Ardmore, OK we decided to stop at the Loves truck-stop in Pauls Valley, OK.   I don’t know what it is about truck-stops but the restrooms always seem to need a little extra attention in the cleanliness department.   I was getting a little sleepy while driving; so I had to stop to grab me a Mt. Dew Code Red and some of that really good, extra hard beef jerky that you can only get at a truck-stop.

As I was going to the counter to pay for my items there was a guy in front of me ordering a Subway sandwich and the two cashier/subway/truck-stop workers were helping him.  The guy politely said to me “Sir, I am going to take care of your items for you!”  My old response would have been, “No,  Absolutely Not, You Don’t Have To Do That…” or I would have tried to pay for his items.  That was before I had learned to just simply say “Thank You” and that’s it.  Here was our exchange:

• Me: “Thank You Sir”
• Him: “No problem, I see you at church.”
• Me: “Oh you go to LifeChurch”
• Him: “Yes”
• Me: “What’s your name and which campus do you attend?”
• Him: “Byron; I kinda just attend all of them, but I see you… I like what I see.”
• Me: ”What are you doing out this way, do you have family here?”
• Him: “No, I’m just traveling through for my job!”
• Me: “Thanks again, Byron it was good to meet you… Have a Blessed One Bro.”

I twittered my experience late last night and @moneyinmarriage replied back to me with “@ScottWilliams Got to love random acts of kindness. He will be blessed tremendously.”  Hmmm, how tremendously blessed would the world be if we all just took the time to do Kind Acts of Randomness; formerly known as Random Acts of Kindness.  Let’s take it a step further, how different would the world be if we just learned to say thank you! 

Just like your momma taught you as a child…  ”Be Kind and Say Thank You!”   Transcend The Isms

Thoughts?  Experiences? Chime In…

I know that this may or may not be the most popular post; however I really don’t care.  I was thinking about this “One Prayer” series and how it is going to be really great for “The Church” and the body of Christ.  This is a great opportunity for us to set aside our denominational differences, personal preferences, he doesn’t do this, he doesn’t do that, I like this style, I don’t like what they do, he’s too this and they are too that’s aside; and really live out what it means to be a Disciple of Christ.

Here is the deal about Pastor Joel Osteen in my opinion; he is happy, uplifting, encouraging… and many people think that he doesn’t do enough of __________, or he is too ___________.  The bottom line is that he is the Senior Pastor of largest church in America and 7 million people from around the world watch him each week on television.  The next time you or someone decides to start hatin’ on Joel; remember that no one is perfect and nothing gets Satan more excited than Christ followers hatin’ on each other; especially the Senior Pastor of the largest ministry in America. I honestly hear far to many Christians, including ministry leaders hatin’ on Joel.

I will agree that Joel has a “Happy” message and it might not necessarily be my cup of tea; at the same time I will only speak well of him and others.  Stop Hatin’ on Joel Osteen!

Go ahead and fill up the comment box!

During our December Event, Sam Roberts who is a member of the LifeChurch.tv Directional Leadership Team, delivered a talk regarding Love and Leadership.  It was one of those; light-switch turning-on “Vuja De” moments for me and as he confirmed aspects my leadership style.

Sam spoke from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres.  Love never fails. 

Here are some thoughts on how “Love” plays out as a leader, a spouse and a parent:

• Patience- Who do we need to be patient w/…. Be Patient!
• Kind- Don’t be too quick to judge… When you have both the authority and respect; then you can effectively lead!
• Envy- If you envy others around you, you lead out of insecurity…  This is the death spiral of leadership! 
• Boast- “When you think more of yourself, others will think less of you.”
• Self-seeking- “If you don’t respect and honor others… you won’t receive it.”
• Easily ngered- “If you want to erode equity within your team… loose your temper”
• Record of wrongs &Truth- Forgive….Be honest, lead honest… you don’t have to know everything  or have all the answers, just have integrity & be honest.
• Trust- Trust and look for the best in those who God has placed in your care.
• Perseveres- Love always perseveres. 

Love never fails- Never is a very strong word! 

“We can’t always control how we feel about someone, but we can always control how we treat them.” 

Are you showing your team or your family enough Love?  Have you worked for supervisors who lead out of insecurity and not Love? Had you ever considered this passage from a leadership perspective?  Share your thoughts!

Last week I was visiting with a lady who is currently going through a divorce.  As we were talking, I realized that she is in a really difficult situation because she is basically “Married Without a Spouse.”  In other words; she has been separated for about a year pending the finalization of her divorce and is in an awkward limbo.  Here are a few questions that she asks herself, that makes her situation really awkward:

• How do I encourage couples w/ a struggling marriage?
• How do I engage in couple, family and marriage conversations?
• What do I do the weeks that I have my kids and the weeks that I don’t?
• Do I attend a small group for married couples or singles?
• Do I feel guilty moving forward with divorce, even with biblical grounds?

These are just a few questions; however the list goes on and on.  There are times in our lives that we just need some closure on a particular situation; to allow God to take us to the next season.  Unfortunately, there are also those times when we have to weather the Winter Storm, as frigid as it may be; in order to reach the Spring.   

Are you “Married Without a Spouse” in other words, are there areas of your life in which you are in an awkward limbo; waiting for the next season?  How do you handle the storms?  Share your thoughts!

Last week Craig posted a blog on Swerve entitled “Where is God Working” in which he asked people to share some churches where God is doing something special…..  There were a ton of churches shared from around the country and I have been checking out many of the websites.  I ran across a comment that I thought was complimentary and intriguing; the NW Oklahoma City Campus of LifeChurch.tv was mentioned in a comment by Jimmy Paravane.  His comment also made me think about the about the “A-Word” Assume/Assumptions.  Below is the exact comment:

“3 churches in OKC come to mind. 1. The NW OKC Campus of LifeChurch.tv at http://www.lifechurch.tv/?p=745. Scott Williams is black! What’s he doing as Campus Pastor of a white-flight mega-multi-site church! Some of my assumptions about LifeChurch.tv could just possibly be wrong. This MAY call for some further research.”

I had read a post over a month ago entitled “Stereotype” from my friend in the blogsphere Anne Jackson; in which she outlined the stereotypical contemporary church pastor.  For the most part it’s accurate, I just happen to be the exception instead of the rule.  The post on Swerve today entitled “Kingdom Minded” really sheds light on assuming, divisiveness and speaking well of others.  If we don’t make any assumptions or only assume the best about people, pastors, ministries, styles…. it changes our perspective.   I am not saying that some of the assumptions and stereotypes are not accurate, I’m simply saying be careful and remember when we ASSUME, it can make a _ _ _ out of you and me.  

BTW- What am I doing as Campus Pastor of a white-flight mega-multi-site church? 

We are all guilty of assuming and stereotyping pastors and churches.  What are some stereotypes or assumptions that you have about: Contemporary Churches, LifeChurch.tv, Joel Osteen, “The Black Church,” Baptist Churches…..?  

The word Love has really been catching my attention over the last three weeks, or at least I have been paying more attention to it (just in case my wife reads my blog today, I have been paying attention to the word Love since the day we met) .  Yesterday, I went to Larry Damerval’s funeral, who is the guy that was featured in our “30 Days to Live” series.  Chris Spradlin did an excellent job of celebrating Larry’s life and sharing the things that were important to Larry.  What really caught my attention was the fact that one of the central themes of the funeral was Love and how Larry would have everyone that would visit him, read from 1 Corinthians 13.  Just a couple of weeks ago when I married a couple and that same passage was the key passage for their wedding.  I was counseling with a guy this week and that’s one of the passages that we talked through.  During the “Prep for Marriage” class my wife and I taught last week, we watched and discussed Rob Bell’s video Flame; which does an excellent job of illustrating what Love really is.  Here are some thoughts to ponder of how we tend to use the word Love: 

• I Love God with all my heart, mind and soul
• I Love to go fishing
• I Love Mexican food
• I Love my wife
• I Love my___________ sports team
• I Love my family
• I Love, I Love, I Love

I personally think that we use the word “Love” word to loosely.  Share your thoughts!  Are you guilty of loving Mexican food and in the next sentence Loving your wife?