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Are you Creative

Our God is a creative God- and we are created in His image –we should be creative as well.

BUT–our problem many times is that we gravitate towards what is familiar–we get into a comfort zone, something that allows us to take no risks and not interfere with the status quo and because of that many times we reap a boring an unproductive life.

For example–in our marriages, if we are not careful we can wind up doing the same thing every evening, come home, watch television, tuck the kids in and then go to bed. I personally have to guard against this. If this means getting in the car and driving around the block to break up the routine, then do it. Anything that allows you to spend time w/ your wife and or family, then by all means do it, and I am not talking about using a TV show as your ‘family time’.

I had a friend tell me one time that he felt like he was hitting a wall in his quiet times, that he was getting nothing out of reading his Bible. I told him that I had recently experienced the same thing and all that I did was change the place I had my quiet time I moved from my office to another room and then outside AND I began reading a different translation of Scripture, the Bible came to life all over again for me.  This happens all because of changing the routine.

Church–if we are not careful we can fall into routines of ‘blahness’ and lose sight of the creative being we were made to be and we get used to it. 

So my challenge today–change something, change where you do your quiet time, where you go to lunch, how you drive home–be creative, because in doing so I believe we actually become more Christ like. Jesus is a lot of things but “boring” was never a word anyone close to Him used to describe Him.  If God is not boring–then His children should not be and His church should not be either!

-Peace

www.ryancook.net

Poor Guy

While at the Phoenix airport, Brian and I had about a 5 minute layover, no joke, we fast walked and trotted through the airport to make it to our gate on time. Once there, we had about 3-4 minutes, just enough to use the restroom really fast before boarding our tiny plane, where I am sure there was no room for a bathroom. 

So anyways, I was in the MENS bathroom finishing up my business, when all the sudden I hear a ladies voice. I am like, u-oh, flashing thoughts raced through my mind, like maybe I went left when I should have went right, maybe the stick figure WAS wearing a dress. Hmmm! (I will have to admit publicly, I have made this mistake a couple times, so now when entering restroom I make sure there are standing urinals.)

So back to the story. This lady was hollering in and old Spanish type voice. I could hear a little panic and urgency in her voice as she is calling out for 'Manny'. At this point thought I had figured it out. I was washing my hands and politely locked eyes and tried to let her know this was the Mens restroom. At this point she didnt care and was totally oblivious to the world and to me.

I thought for sure she had lost her grandson, so I started looking for the lost little boy w/ her, calling out, Manny-Manny. You know me, I am having fun w/ it by this point, trying to help her and calling out for Manny along w/ her.

All the sudden this older man w/ a cowboy hat came out of a stall, talking back to her in Spanish and trying to get his pants belted and buckled up. I am thinking to myself, this guy must be pretty embarrassed to get chased down in the bathroom by his wife. 

From what I could make of the whole thing was this:

Wife: Hey bozo, pinch it off, you’re going to make us late for our plane.

Husband: Woman, leave me alone, I am taking care of business, I am not your kid.

Wife: You act like a kid, I am going to treat you like a kid, now hurry up before we miss our plane.

Husband: Please leave, you are embarrassing the heck out of me, you are standing in the middle of the mens restroom. Woman, please leave.

Wife: If you had a head on your shoulders and could function w/ out me, I wouldnt have to be standing here telling you to hurry up. Quit whining and hurry up.

Husband: Ok, honey, you are right. Sorry. Coming. *man leaves walking out w/ head down* and btw, he forgot to wash his hands.

True, but very funny. 

www.ryancook.net 

 

CatWest- Andy Stanley

Ok, Catalyst has been awesome to say the least. Here are some note from one of Andy Stanleys talks.

•  If I had all the answers, I would know what to do.
• When the uncertainty of the situation goes away, we dont need leaders.
• Leadership IS a gift
• Life is uncertain but God isnt uncertain
• Uncertainty is not gonna go away
• Uncertainty is not an indication of pour leadership
• Uncertainty is the arena in which good leadership is identified
• We should not be upset by the uncertainty of the world conditions and economy.
• You dont learn anything when things are going well- A.S.
• Uncertainty is when God shows up
• As leaders, we should thrive in uncertain situations

 2 Words that should be on the top of our mind-

            Clarity & Flexibility

Its ok to be uncertain, its not ok to be unclear! (love this statement!)

If you are unclear, it allows for another leader to emerge, whether their leadership is right or wrong.

When unclear, pull back and retreat to that original vision God called you to.

 Clarity always trumps Uncertainty

Do everything you know how to do and let God take care of what you dont know.

The clearer you communicate, the less uncertainty looks uncertain.

When things are uncertain, get clearer and clearer

If you have breezed over all the above, please slow down and read below, it is very true and rich:

• PLANS CHANGE- VISIONS REMAIN THE SAME
  
• Dont confuse the plan w/ the vision.
  
• Plans change and fail, dont abandon the vision for the plan.
  
• ALWAYS sacrifice the plan to stick to the vision.
  
• Dont make decisions on your own, make them as a team and then own it.

No decision was ever sacred, but the vision never changed- Sam Walton

www.ryancook.net

-Peace

CatWest Day 1

Today was a great start for Catalyst West Coast.  The day came w/ many highlights and some great speakers.

Erwin Mcmanus spoke on our 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd places and how to be relevant in our own ‘space’ and community.

Mark Batterson had a good talk and spoke on Right Brain Leadership. One great thought: your focus determines your reality.

One of my highlights was I got to meet a blogging pioneer and blogging idol of mine, Carlos Whittaker. He is the worship leader at Buckhead Church. (Just noticed the comparison of shiny heads while inserting this pic, haha)

www.ryancook.net

-Peace

Catalyst West Coast

I will be attending Catalyst West Coast today w/ a co-worker and great friend, Brian. We are ready for an exciting time of learning, stretching, gleaning and growing.

The speaker line up is awesome: Andy Stanley, Erwin Mcmanus, Brian Houston, Craig Groeschel, Perry Noble, Francis Chan, just to name a few.

The music is supposed to be off the chain w/ Steve Fee and Hillsong United.

Got my pin ready for lots of note taking!

www.ryancook.net

Approachability

I want to talk about ‘being approachable’.  I feel I am a very approachable guy when it comes to conversation. I really don’t know any strangers. If you know me, you know this is the truth. 

I think this is a good thing when it comes to leadership and ministry. I can have a carry and conversation w/ a 15 year old and turn around and carry a conversation w/ an 80 year old. I can talk w/ them about anything, from be whats happening in the news, latest technology, to the latest trends & God.

This is a gift I have had since I can remember. I am sure it comes from how I carry myself, look, expressions and dress. Which I would like to add, I dont go out of the way to be anyone or anything I am not, just being me.  I like the latter part of this verse.

Anyways, the reason I bring this up is something that happened today. I am staying in Visalia, CA while we attend my grandma’s funeral in Fresno, CA.

I ran to fuel up and was headed back home. While sitting at a red light, a truck pulled up next to me. It was a full sized Chevy truck and was occupied by 4 teens, all sitting on the bench seat.

I was sitting there in our rented minivan, looking as cool as could be, -in a minivan. Anyway, a couple of nods were exchanged, kind of like ‘how you doing’ and this kid rolls down the window and asks me if I ‘blazed’. (Ok, for those of you who dont know, I am 37 y/o, bald and look like a cop) I was thinking, what, blaze, I should do your parents a favor and jump out and spank your butt right now.   Then I started thinking, this kid is serious, I wonder if he is in the buying or selling business. (If you don’t know what blazing is, it is a slang for-smoking weed.)

He then mentioned he needed to get a van like mine so they could cruise their ‘crew’ around in. The light turned green and we went our separate ways. As I drove off I chuckled to myself and still in shock, that someone pulled up in broad day light and asked me that.- Only in Cali.

Approachability is a good thing and needs to be used in such a way. Of course there was really nothing I could have done in that 25 seconds at the stop light to change this kids way of thinking. Nonetheless, I think we all need to stay approachable and live out this verse.

Its not the first time and wont be the last.

-Peace

www.ryancook.net

Holly Furtick

I was reading a blog this morning and wanted to share it w/ you. It is written from Holly Furtick, wife of Steven Furtick who pastors Elevation Church in NC. It is a great blog and even better timing. Here it is..

I am not a fighter.  I really hate tension.  But there is one fight that I am learning to fight.

In our three short years of ministry I have noticed a pattern.  Around Christmas and Easter, Fall push and the opening of a new campus, the start of a new ministry or addition of a service we seem to come against a strong opposition.

Ephesians 6:12 says For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Does this mean that I blame the devil for every bad thing that happens to our family around Easter?  No, of course not.  But do I think that there are forces in this world that want to attack and/or distract us during a time of year when many many people will come to church for the first time (or maybe first time in a long time).  Absolutely.

How do I fight?  Well first of all I am aware.  I see a negative attitude that rises up inside me as an opportunity for there to be a tension in my marriage.  I am sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  I try to spend more time meditating and praying as I go throughout my day.

I am also not going to bring up a conversation that may cause a disagreement.  I realize that my husband needs to focus most of his attention on the goal and vision of our church and reaching people.  To cause some kind of disagreement would be to cause a distraction for him.  If the enemy cannot get at my marriage through a moral failure, he is going to attack through the seemingly small.

You may be reading this post and think, this is not for me.  I am not in the ministry.  This post is for everyone.

If you are in the ministry, open your eyes.  Be aware, be sensitive, be prayerful.

If you are not in the ministry, be in extra prayer for your church, your pastor, your church leaders and for their families.  Pray for smooth services, functioning equipment, plenty of volunteers, good health, the list can go on and on.

Newsletter

This is a test for GJFA's monthly newsletter. We are trying to go electronically and rss feeds are one thing we are looking into. I would like to poll the audience. If your church had a newsletter, is this a way you would like to receive it rather than snail mail? Please leave a comment at www.ryancook.net under the comment tab.

Here it is Download AprilNewsletter2009(2)

-Peace

M&M

I have a cousin that owns a T-shirt & Embroidery business in Clovis, CA called M&M Screen Printing. In fact, here is the link. 

I was emailing him about an order and he wasnt returning my emails. This is not like Scott, usually he is on the ball and gets back w/ customers ASAP. I was thinking to myself, what is gong on? Is he on another vacation or something? He did get back w/ me on the same business day, just way later in the day.

He had what I think was a great excuse. He told me he was printing like a wild man. He even had secretaries and relatives at the shop printing.

Being a business owner and entrepreneur, he saw a small window of opportunity and jumped on it, actually he pounced on it.

See, the famous bike rider Lance Armstrong, was riding through their town on a leg of a race. It was a big deal for their city and everyone wanted to support Lance and be part of the hoopla.

Scott didnt think twice and went into t-shirt production mode. He printed up two different tees and hit the streets, door-to-door, business-to-business. (I knew those JW skills would come in handy at some point) People were placing and prepaying for orders of 30 at a time.  He was selling $1000’s in tees a day.  He knew he only had a small window, so he was eager at selling and printing for 3 days straight.

In a world full of gloom, Scott was shinning.

Is Scott a Christian? Im not sure, BUT, I fully believe God gave him this great idea. God made him, his mind, his skills, to get him where he is today. Without a shadow of a doubt, God dropped that idea in him and the skills to see it through.

Opportunities are out there, you just have to look for them. The news makes us believe the word is crashing in around us, when in reality (and just my opinion) we are just actually switching gears and change is happening.

Has anyone thought for a second about the change? Eighty percent (80%) of people do not like change. Are people giving up because they dont like change or are afraid of it?

An auto plant are shuts down in Michigan. We have 1000s of people, some who have only worked in a factory plant atmosphere, out of a job. Tech and medical field jobs are popping up all over. For the factory workers to get a tech or med field job, they would have to change their way of thinking and do a little training.

But what do most do? Complain and say there are no jobs. From what I see, there are jobs, maybe just not in the particular field that person may be looking in. They cannot hire enough medical field workers to fill the jobs available. Should the government spend stimulus on retraining some of the blue-collar field? It is up for debate, personally, I think so.

God made you, gave you a mind, gave you your abilities and skills. He expects us to use them. Maybe God is stretching you and thats the uneasiness you may be feeling?

PLEASE dont misunderstand me and take this wrong. I understand people are getting laid off and some fields of work may be slower than others, especially the oil fields on the Western Slope, but this is not the time for us to throw in the towel.

Remember pre-great depression. There were two cereal companies. The giant, Post and the small one Kelloggs. In fear, Post decided to draw back and massively scale shut down production. The smaller one Kellogg’s, decided to ramp up production. They saw an opportunity and jumped and rode it through. Today, Kellogg’s by far towers over Post. 

As fast as a plant gets shut down, many jobs or opportunities arise (maybe in an unrelated field than your norm) you just have to be open to change. Be open to figure out what your next move is.  Opportunity is out there, we need to let God lead us to what the next move is.

Dont wait for someone else to make the first move, if nothing is happening, make the first move.

For comments, go to www.ryancook.net and click on the comment tab.

-Peace

 

Missed Blogs

Ouch, embarrassing, March 5^th was my last post.  Where did March go? WOW, I have been slacking in the blogging department! I love to blog and write my life experiences, but just haven’t been finding the time.

So whats been going on in my life? A LOT! Too much to mention all at once. Just about everyday is exciting w/ me, my job and my family. Not a dull day goes by. 

On another note, a little sad news, my grandmother of 96 years old passed away a few days ago. I will write a blog about her life soon.

I have been learning a lot of website stuff for our church website, www.gjfa.org, very interesting stuff!

It was great to see people give their lives to Christ and accept Him yesterday!

Hell is real…people who die without knowing Christ really go there…and we are commanded by God to take Jesus to the world!

Jesus didn’t die so church people could be comfortable and to make sure we have people to serve us…but rather so we can serve Him by taking HIS GOSPEL to the world!

Life is good, God is better!

www.ryancook.net