I’m a dreamer. I always want to do more with life.  I believe dreams are a healthy way to stretch the mind, keep a person growing, and even stay emotionally healthy.  (“Where there is not vision, the people perish.”)  On a recent plane ride I jotted down ten goals that I still have for my life.  God willing, I’m going to spend my life dreaming they come true! 

1.      Train young leaders to be “giant killers” for the Kingdom of God.

2.      Help hurting pastors be restored to vibrant ministry.

3.      See dying churches revitalized.

4.      Help Cheryl fulfill her dreams; and help her dream bigger dreams for herself!

5.      Watch more boys marry godly women.

6.      Become a granddad!  (I’ll take number 5 first, but I’ll be ready!)

7.      Travel to Africa and Asia.

8.      See patriotism restored as a personal value for all Americans.

9.      Accept fully Christ’s love and forgiveness (with no regrets from the past).

10.  Hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

What dreams do you have for your life?  What are your current goals?  Feel free to share them here. 

I’m a fairly even keel guy.  My moods don’t go up and down a lot.  I just pretty much stay the same.  I frequently get asked, what gets me excited in life?  What fuels me?  Here are a few things.  Feel free to add your own list.

1.      Helping people get excited about their Jesus relationship.

2.      Making Cheryl happy. (Walks with Cheryl.)

3.      Spending time with my boys (when they want to spend time with me!)

4.      A peaceful long run in the cool of the day. 

5.      Uninterrupted study time (or uninterrupted time period).

6.      New thoughts, dreams, ideas, and strategies.

7.      Throwing my plastic balls into Michael Bayne’s office across the hall from me and scaring him every time.  (Just generally picking on people.)

8.      A sense of accomplishment!

9.      Seeing my sweet Yorkie get so excited when I come home (every time!)

10.  Knowing I’ve pleased my God! 

Here’s my can of worms.  I opened it.  Feel free to play! 

Fortune Magazine has a recent article entitled Men: The New Misfits.  The premise of the article is that in the boardrooms of corporate America men are losing ground.  While this may be welcome news to many women who have felt they were not treated equally for year, I hope the answer for this is not an attempt to “punish” men for the inequality of the sexes women have experienced over the years.  

The thought process also opens up a discussion for me of where we are in society relative to the treatment of men.  The fact is that men have been lowered to stupidity in television sitcoms for the last few years.  Gone are the Bill Cosby characters and they are being replaced with bubbling idiots who only crave sex and beer and can’t do anything without their women.  Men are seen as the absent minded, uncaring, jerks that frankly we can be at times.  I know I sound offended, but I see men being portrayed that way far more than for the positive impacts we make on society.   My wife agrees.  She has often mentioned that radio commentators, where one is a man and one is a woman, usually have fun with the woman constantly putting down or making fun of the man.  I realize this is all in the name of “fun” and being the practical joker I am surely I can take a joke, but I believe there is some seriousness to this issue. 

Ideally we should have equality among the sexes.  Each sex should treat the other with the respect all people are due.  Men have a role to play in society as do women.  My suggestion is that we all value each other. Somehow it seems to me that if we followed the mission of Christ we would avoid all extremes. 

I think this is hilarious.  My son and the 2 Hughes brothers make great videos for our student ministry.  Enjoy!

Matthew Paul Turner’s new book Churched, One Kid’s Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess is a great read for those who grew up in church or those who are on the outside looking into church.  Having enjoyed great conversation with Turner over coffee a few times I know him to have great insight into the plight of the church that is attempting to reach the unchurched today.  Churched reads like you are sitting with Turner over a great cup of coffee.  His stories are funny, poignant and sadly, they are true.  His candid look at the church was a great reminder to me of how those of us who are very “churched” must at times appear to the unchurched world.

I love the ending story about his relationship with his new pastor Pete Wilson at Crosspoint Community Church ( great church!).  Since I’ve met Pete also and am very familiar with Crosspoint, it was a good confirmation that Matthew Paul Turner writes strictly from the heart. He calls them as he sees them.  Matthew, if you lived in Clarksville, I would love to have you in my church!

Pick up a copy of Churched today for a fun to read challenge to your church practices.

See what my 17 year old son thinks of the last debate and his thoughts on the presidential election.  Pretty insightful stuff.  www.nateedmondson.com

Our community group finished up Purpose Driven Life this week. I’ve been supplementing the text with my own questions from the material.  Here are the questions for Purpose Number 5.  What are your answers?

1.      If “you were made for a mission”, have you figured out yet what that is?

2.      What is your process of mission discovery?  How do you think that takes place?

3.      What fears come to your mind when you think about evangelism or sharing your faith?

4.      Who do you know that needs more than anything in their life to hear and receive the Good News of Jesus Christ? 

5.      If we are to “give ourselves completely to God” what is the hardest thing for you to give up in order for you to follow Christ completely?

6.      Are there areas of your life/struggles in your life that are hard for you to share with others? Could those be the things God most wants to use to win others to Him?

7.      Are you certain of your salvation?  Has there ever been a time of doubt?

8.      In what areas of your life do you most need to “shift from self-centered thinking to other-centered thinking?

9.      Is it difficult to see yourself as a part of the “global” picture of God’s story?  What helps you/hinders you from doing so?

10.  What do you think of when you read “Shift from ‘here and now’ thinking to eternal thinking”?  How does that help you when you practice doing so? 

11.  What excuses do we usually use for not serving Christ as you should?

12.  Where is your life out of balance?  Where do you need to be more balanced?

13.  If you had to give yourself a spiritual check-up today, how are you doing?

14.  If your life purpose had a mission statement, what would it be?

15.  What do you most want the “contribution” of your life to be?

How do you know when it’s time to leave an organization or company?  Sometimes it’s more damaging to stay than to quit.  Recently I was asked to help a friend think through his own decision of whether to stay or to leave his current position.  The following are some times to consider leaving.  I think these may apply if you are an employee, volunteer or sometimes even a church member.

1.      When your heart has left the organization and you don’t plan to stay permanently.  Sometimes you have to reenergize your heart.  If you are in a marriage, for example, you have to find a way to make it work.  If you are working for an organization you shouldn’t harm the organization by staying when you no longer have a heart for the mission. If you’ve quit having fun, don’t make life miserable for everyone else. 

2.      When you can’t support the leadership and the leadership is firmly planted.  You need to know who the power brokers in your organization are.  It’s nearly impossible to change the organization working against that ingrained power structure.  Ask yourself, “If it’s always going to be like this around here, would I be content staying?” 

3.      When your family or personal life is suffering because of the demands of the organization.  If you have to neglect one of them, your career or your family, in twenty years which do you hope it will have been? 

4.      When your mind starts working against the mission and vision of the organization.  If you would rather see the place fails than succeed; it’s clearly time to go.

5.      When your relationship with co-workers or leadership is damaged beyond repair.  You should try to work out these differences, but when it is obvious the relationship cannot be mended, it may be time to move on.  Life’s too short to be that miserable. 

6.      If the organization is venturing into immoral or unethical practices.  Don’t get caught in the next news scandal.

7.      When you find yourself physically ill if work crosses your mind on the weekend (or when you are off work).  If the stress is greater than you can handle emotionally; protect your health over the career. 

8.      You are no longer pulling your weight.  For whatever reason, whether it’s because you’ve given up, you are bored, or just can’t keep up, if you are dragging down productivity and you don’t have the incentive to improve, perhaps it’s time for a change in your workplace.

Please understand. I’m not a quitter.  I believe, however, that the times described above are not always to be viewed as negative experiences.  Sometimes God uses the difficult experiences of life to draw us to Him and to open our eyes to the next opportunity He has for us. I would have never made some of the moves I’ve made in life that I know now were of God had it not been for my miserable situation at the time.   

My grandfather saves boxes; all types of boxes. Before he entered the nursing home if he emptied a cereal box, he saved the empty box.  Shoe boxes…all saved.  He loves boxes.  When asked why he saved so many boxes he would reply, “You never know when you might need them.”  That is just one example of how his life was changed by surviving the depression.  He was less trusting of others to care for him and it gave him a strong work ethic to provide for his family. 

Let me be very clear.  I don’t believe we are headed for a depression.  I believe the recovery that took 20 years early last century will happen much quicker in this economy.  We have safeguards in place that weren’t in place then.  We have a more global economy.  Change in life-cycles naturally occurs faster today than last century. 

Regardless of where we are today, however, and where we were in the early 20^th Century, there will be changes in the way people think, act, and respond to the economy.  Anytime you have this much media attention and this much anxiety paradigm shifts are sure to occur.  I don’t know if people will begin to hoard boxes again, but a crisis that has gained this much attention and a correction of this magnitude is bound to have lasting impacts on our society.  Not all of these are necessarily bad; but some will be.

Here are some random thoughts and observations I see as possibilities.  These are strictly my opinions.  Feel free to add your own.

1.      Fancy gimmicks and advertising won’t be enough to lure customers.  Companies will have to earn their trust.

2.      Community banks stand to fare better than the large, corporate banks. 

3.      Cash is back.  Southwest Air and Frontier Airlines quit taking cash onboard flights.  Will they re-think this policy now?

4.      Creative financing will be important for growing companies.  Look for a rise in independent venture capital.

5.      People will be more conservative with their resources.  This will impact the places we shop, the products we buy, and the service we expect to receive. 

6.      Look for smaller, less ornate homes to make a comeback.  The creative builder will cater to this market offering more for less.

7.      People will value those things they can trust and that are lasting. This bodes well for families. 

8.      Mergers will gain steam, as will takeovers.  The strong will survive and thrive.  (You may even see this happen in the church world.)

9.      In order to build customer loyalty and trust, look for “real” customer service to return.

10.  Look for the return of things from the past; such as hair styles, fashion, and décor. 

11.  Music lyrics from new songs will incorporate some of the emotions people have experienced over the economy. 

12.  Wal Mart and other discounters are positioned well for growth.  Other discounters could rise up and established retailers may transform themselves to become true discounters. 

13.  The risk taking entrepreneur will have tremendous opportunities in this new economy.

14.   The customer is king…again! 

15.  We will see new government regulation in our life. Think of post 9/11 and the changes that occurred in the airports; then translate that to this economic situation.