Terry Linhart's Blog, page 16

5 Steps to Improve your Thinking Right Now

Photo by Chance Agrella via @freerangestock

I was sitting watching Pride and Prejudice with Kelly (thank you very much, I hear that applause) on TV last week and I found myself concentrating closely on the dialogue. This was partially due to poor miking (I thought they could’ve done better with the audio) and partially due to the fact I can never understand Keira Knightley when she speaks in movies.  Anyway, I enjoyed the subtleties of the dialogue and nuances of the cultural formalities … and sitting with my wife, of course.

The commercial breaks featured the Kardashians.  Rare has there been a more diverse portrayal of relationship nuances and values. Pride and Prejudice (you know, “Every woman wants a Mr. Darcy and few men know who Mr. Darcy is“) featured characters in pursuit of qualities quite different from that of the reality-show world.

It made me wonder which direction the culture of the day was pushing us.  What does it take any more to have a deep thought around here?  Why did I find myself concentrating so carefully on the dialogue?

Seriously, how is it that we can cultivate our thinking in a world that is working (not on purpose, of course) against that?  As long as the WiFi is working (just check Twitter the next time the power goes out) and we have our favorite App to play (not all apps are bad and some DO prompt good thinking), we’re happy to entertain ourselves in comfort and never make our brain “hurt” with one new thought.

But we should.

We should make it hurt like we would a muscle we’re working to build.

Here are 5 ways you can immediately begin to improve your thinking:

Clean your lens.  There are two ways to do this. First, narrow your focus by cutting out some things and focusing in on things, like a photographer who looks through a lens.  He or she doesn’t see the sides or periphery, but has crystal clear perspective (zoomed in too!) on what is in focus.  Second, get rid of the obstacles on the lens. Some things block our view 0 emotions, insecurities, noise/hurry/crowds, or even a bad lens.  One of my favorite ways to keep the lens clear is to be immersed in the Bible. Part of our thinking issue is that we fail to see life and the world as God sees it and we let the cultural “water we swim in” to set the current for us.  Thinking good thoughts starts with the One who is good.
Read on purpose. This is actually a sub-category of the overarching principle: Be a lifelong learner. Too many folks, especially men, fail to keep reading and learning as they age.  Reading requires a discipline to be shaped. The old axiom is that we’re shaped most by the people we spend time with and the books we read. I have added to my 2014 stack some literary novels so that I don’t melt down to a level of discourse that is reality-show level.
Nurture your heart.  This one may surprise you, but I’m surprised how often we want to merely think.  Be sure to feel.  Don’t divide the mind from the heart, and neither from everyday living. Be inspired. Let your affective side (different from sensationalism) of your life grow!  You’ll find your thinking is invigorated when your heart is nourished.
Draw your ideas. This is an area I’m working on this year.  I’ve watched leaders I admire draw, diagram, and doodle their way toward better conceptualization and creativity. I’ve begun to use the Paper app on my iPad as a vehicle to draw out my ideas. The infographic phenomenon has proven this to be an effective way to communicate clearly.  (You know, it used to be that if it was in a book it was true. Then if it was online it was true. Now, if it’s in an infographic, it must be true). 
Do manual labor. This may seem weird, but I believe this deeply.  You will think better the more you work with your hands, whether clearing brush, woodworking, cooking, or gardening, it will be helpful to your thinking. I can’t count the number of times in a meeting where I started sharing an idea by saying, “While I was mowing the other day….”  Most of us could slow down a bit to heed the apostle Paul’s advice to the Thessalonians, “Aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands. (I Thessalonians 4:10-12).

This is going to be a theme for me this year. We’re not intentionally heading toward better thinking. We focus on the forms of things (i.e. blogging, ministry, leadership) but we don’t spend much time talking about the content of blogs, the object of our faith, or the people we lead.

What do you do to keep your thinking sharpened?

 

by

The post 5 Steps to Improve your Thinking Right Now appeared first on In this Corner of the World - TerryLinhart.com.

Like it or not, Likeability Matters

The recent series of NFL (see Detroit and Tampa) and NCAA (see USC) coaching changes exposes a growing reality that exists for those in management and leadership:  Likeability matters.  If you don’t treat people well, and others don’t like you, no one will come to your rescue when things go sour. Gone (for a while at least) are the days where leaders can lead and not care if anyone likes them. The drill sergeant model doesn’t work for the long term, and often has questionable results for the short term.

If you have a dominant personality, one that leans task-0riented (what is commonly known as a “high D” personality), you’ll have to be extra attentive to this gap. Though you have have people lining-up behind you, they can just as easily be secretly resenting that and counting the minutes until they can be out of there.

All of us want to be more likeable. Well, I hope so.  Likeability matters more than ever - for managers, pastors, teachers, and even authors. If people aren’t drawn to you, there are plenty of others to go follow, work alongside, or give our attention to.

Fortunately, there are three practices each of us can do to be more likeable.

Listen. I don’t mean notice.  I mean, listen. How good of a listener are you? Or do you often do most of the talking? That’s the first quick measurement of our ability to listen.  Think of the people you lead. Can they share with you what’s on their mind?  This past month for me has been super busy and I have this nagging feeling that I just need to spend time with those around me, just talking, listening, and reconnecting now that a new season has begun. The issue here is that you and I can’t determine whether we’ve listened or not.  The others around us need to feel like they’ve been heard.  If you’re married, you know the difference.
Develop warmth.  This one is less easy. It’s more than a single step, especially for those of us who are task oriented. Warmth is the ability to give grace to others so that they can be exactly who they were created to be when around you.  Do you seem like a “yes” person or a “no” person? Do you know how to welcome others in, can you laugh, and are you even able to enjoy a mistake or failure? Listen, as much as we esteem various strategies and processes, the final evaluation for many of our decisions about what to do is whether we like someone or some organization.
Empathize with others. The fundamental issue with likeability is that one of its elements is to not focus on ourselves.  As we listen and develop warmth, empathy is the result that will seal the deal. We all want to be known by others as we are, and we spend each day carefully crafting our interactions with others so that we relate in an acceptable (and likeable) way!  Usually. It’s when a person connects with us that we feel safe, they “get” us.  

The themes in this post have been constant for me on this blog because I’m regularly surprised at how often people push others away.  And in doing so, we miss opportunities. I remember reading a book by author Chuck Sambuchino of Writer’s Digest.  While traveling, he was sitting next to a lady who he guessed was an aspiring writer and so he asked. She was an unpublished author and, instead of telling her story, had quickly assessed whether Chuck could be worth talking to. She guessed he wasn’t and in a prickly fashion dismissed him directly.  Little did she know that she was speaking to a guy who’s Twitter tagline says, “I help writers get published.”

How often do we miss similar opportunities because of our defensiveness, pride, and prejudice?

We all have amazing people around us in our lives and work. They are not obstacles to eliminate, peasants to be lorded over, or robots to get to do our bidding. They are wonderful people with fascinating stories and numerous talents and capabilities.

What is it that makes you “like” someone?

 

by

The post Like it or not, Likeability Matters appeared first on In this Corner of the World - TerryLinhart.com.

You’re [Can be] Funnier than your Video Clip

Anyone who’s spent time with me this past year has probably heard my rant about a few of the  more prominent TV shows.  I’ve watched more than a few with my teens and, as the laugh track is turned up, I’ll say to them, “But that wasn’t a joke!”  And it’s true. There wasn’t a joke. It was either an off-color word or joke, a comment made by a character, or a putdown of another character. But no joke.

Maybe I’m just getting old.

Photo used courtesy of @darrowassoc

But, here’s what I DO know…. you’re funnier than a video clip.  I believe this to be true.  All of us can default to showing a video clip from YouTube for our next event or youth group gathering. We all chuckle and laugh, but the comedy is “out there” and differs from the laughs when we tell jokes, have people do a funny skit, or tell a story. We are all laughing together in those moments and a bond is built.

In my work with young leaders, most of them in youth ministry, I am surprised how often they default to using videos for their funny moments.  They end up looking more like a host of video clips versus someone who has prepared to connect with the audience. When I was recently asked to host an event, my biggest (and only demand) was that we had some writers for the show so that we had jokes. Good material matters.

Fortunately there are many resources out there to help you be funny. The Skit Guys have proven for 10+ years the value of comedy and now provide resources for those interested in skits.  Two older (but good-er!) books I love are A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative and Creative Teaching Methods: Be An Effective Christian Teacher. 

There are other resources, of course, but whatever you use the first rule of thumb is feed the creative inside of you. The second is make the time to prepare well.  And the final rule is rarely work alone. Your best funny stuff will emerge as you synergize with others.

 Be sure to sign up for Email delivery of posts. I don’t spam or sell, but I do give away some free stuff from time to time to those on the mailing list. You can also follow on Twitter or connect via Facebook. And, if you like what you read here, be sure to tell others –and pass it along. Thanks!  ^TL

by

The post You’re [Can be] Funnier than your Video Clip appeared first on In this Corner of the World - TerryLinhart.com.

A 2013 Thank You

I want to thank you all of you who regularly stop by the website for a great 2013. I appreciate your continued support for the strongest year ever on the website. It has been fun for me to meet folks who have been reading my posts for some time and have found them helpful. I am also grateful for those of you who pass along various posts to others on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Thank you to those who have taken advantage of the convenient Email delivery of posts.  Quite a few have signed up for those and we’ll be working ton expand that list in 2014.

Speaking of 2014, it looks to be our best yet and you’ll notice some changes early in the year.  Here’s what is ahead:

An update to the website’s look and structure.
It will feature a regular posting schedule (2-3 times a week)
At some point we’ll be rolling out a monthly E-newsletter
We’ll be hosting many more giveaways (I get freebies here, so you should get freebies too).
We’ll be announcing some very exciting (and huge!) publishing projects in the works.
And we’ll continue in our purpose: To help others excel at their work, particularly those in Christian ministry.

At the end of each year, Kelly and I reflect back and give the year a label.  We’ve had a “year of blessing” in the past and a “year of death” once.  The last one wasn’t as enjoyable as the blessing year, but the turn of the calendar reminds us that life is full of seasons and rarely a smooth-flowing production line of efficiencies. Some winters are cold and snowy while others allow for frisbees in shorts. Some years we thrive and others we labor to meet our responsibilities. And through it all Christ extends his hand to us and asks us to follow and trust Him.  It’s easier in some years, isn’t it.

This has been a year of exciting transition for the Linhart’s. I can’t share all of the transitory moments here in the blog, but the biggest has been that Kelly started her new job as the Director of Visiting Angels for Elkhart and Kosciusko Counties and surrounding regions.  It’s been a long time since Kel worked a full-time job, but we’re excited for this new venture to assist families in need of help in caregiving.

So, while we’ll be tied to the home area more due to Kel’s work, my 2014 travel schedule will be my busiest yet. The number of days gone won’t be as many in years past, but the number of short trips will nearly triple. I’m grateful for the opportunities to partner with so many great organizations, ministries, and churches.

Our Christmas tree adventure

One final tip from the Linhart’s this year. While waiting in line at the Christmas tree farm, I overheard the man in front of us tell his family to not get a Norway Spruce because they shed their needles. He didn’t mention the volume of needles that would fall over a 4-week period.  My family was excited to try a different kind of tree this year We should’ve asked:

Despite our best watering and care, our Charlie Brown tree (then decorated and with more needles on it) helped us celebrate three lovely family gatherings at our house. And, we’ll return to using a Frasier Fir in the future.

Be sure to sign up for Email delivery of posts. I don’t spam or sell, but I do give away some free stuff from time to time to those on the mailing list. You can also follow on Twitter or connect via Facebook . And, if you like what you read here, be sure to tell others –and pass it along. Thanks!  ^TL

The post A 2013 Thank You appeared first on In this Corner of the World - TerryLinhart.com.

Fidelity: An Important Quality

I once had a conversation with two teachers, I think it was about 10 years ago. I remember that we discussed a wide range of topics, most related to theology. One of the conversation partners came from an Anabaptist background (let’s call him Al) while the other (we’ll name him Paul) reportedly held to a Wesleyan theology. I remember that at every turn of the conversation Al answered as one would expect one from his background to answer.  Paul, on the other hand, kept excusing his answers at times because he knew his answer was at variance with his espoused perspective.

Impressed with Al, I later offered him a job because I knew what I was getting with him. I knew that no matter what issue arose Al would handle it as an Anabaptist would and with deep humility. He was faithful to his theological position.  I remember reflecting on what impressed me so with Al.  I began that week to look for instances of a new character trait, fidelity.

Most of us understand fidelity as the definition of faithfulness in marriage, but shouldn’t we look for it in other areas as well?  Shouldn’t someone who teaches at a school, plays for a team, or works for a company be faithful to their work? If I worked at Pepsi, I wouldn’t want to be seen drinking a Coke. If I sold Toyotas, I don’t want customers seeing me in a Ford. It just wouldn’t connect.

In the same way we don’t want to see Christian leaders behaving in ways that don’t line up with biblical standards. I’m always impressed with the life of Daniel, one of Scripture’s best stories of fidelity:

So the presidents and the satraps tried to find grounds for complaint against Daniel in connection with the kingdom. But they could find no grounds for complaint or any corruption, because he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption could be found in him. (Daniel 6:4, NIV)

I’ve begun to look for fidelity not only to God and work, but also when it comes to thinking. I want to see someone have a reasoned position that holds together under scrutiny. I want to be such a person!  When I hire someone, I want to know they’re the “real deal” not just talking about things they don’t believe.  There’s enough of that in the world already.

One measurement of fidelity is who we are when no one is looking.  Do we cut corners, talk poorly, run through stop signs, or other short-cuts when we know there aren’t eyes on us? What is that we believe to be true?  Does our life-in-action, what we say, and what we think clearly connect to those beliefs?

The second measuring stick is one that is more internal, that no one can see. Do our private thoughts, actions, and affections support and line up with how we are known?  Are we really a “what you see is what you get” kind of people?

As we approach the new year, often a time to reflection and evaluation, let’s consider to what we are faithful. If we put our 2013 under the microscope, what would IT say about our fidelity?

 

Be sure to sign up for Email delivery of posts. I don’t spam or sell, but I do give away some free stuff from time to time to those on the mailing list. You can also follow on Twitter or connect via Facebook. And, if you like what you read here, be sure to tell others and pass it along. Thanks!  ^TL

The post Fidelity: An Important Quality appeared first on In this Corner of the World - TerryLinhart.com.

5 Pro Tips to Make your Next Event Better

I recently hosted a campus-wide event for college students, just before finals’ week. The cafeteria was packed for the midnight breakfast and our job was to provide an entertaining evening with costume contests, giveaways, and other humorous elements.  A tough order. College students are among the most savvy and regularly-entertained people groups, so any slip would come up “lame” and not achieve the event’s goals.

By all accounts, the event was a supreme hit with the students, many saying it was the best one ever. As the host (and readers here know that I love watching TV hosts), many of those comments came my way and I deflected them to those (especially the amazing producer/director Reed Lyons) who had done the hard work to make it such a success. As I drove home after the event, I started to reflect on why it was a hit. I came up with a quick “hit list” of five elements that made it better than average.

None of these five will be new to you, but think about the last time you were at an event. I bet they didn’t “hit” on all five of these. If you pay attention to these five elements for your next event (youth group, large gathering, conference, retreat, camp), I bet you’ll hear more positive comments from those who attended.

Make sure the media (sound, video, lighting) is near-perfect.  Listen, THIS is what separates events from other ones and its your first impression.  No matter how good your material is, if videos don’t fire when called for, if mics aren’t working or there is feedback (low end rumble, squeals), or if the lighting is poor, the senses of those who attend your event will be telling them this is mediocre at best. Can we make a pact right now?  The events you lead from here on out will be practiced and ready, the sound people will have everything ready (and they’re paying attention), and you’ll invest in training/supervising those who run the equipment.  For our event, we had a professional sound tech and two killer presentations (video and PowerPoint). All I had to do as the host was set it up (read a few prepared lines) and the laughs followed as the presentations rolled on cue.
Write out your material beforehand … and practice (memorize where necessary). I can’t stress this enough for hosting, speaking, and coordinating: What separates events is the quality of the material.  Find/write about five appropriate jokes to have at the ready. When asked to host, my time was limited in preparation, so a team of college students wrote a bunch of jokes over a week’s time and we picked the best ones.  In 45 minutes of material, we had over 15 major laughs where all 400+ were rolling.  Remember, with good preparation, you’ll cast off as much material as you use!
Have a quality band … that practices … and can play. This may not be applicable to all events, but when you can… DO.  The “iTunes” world in which we live now is demanding of quality. Poor bands (and poor sound!) will, again, immediately tell your audience that the event planners had a low standard of quality. We had a GREAT house band than knew how to fill in the gaps  and could play music the audience wanted to here. The leader, Cristian Mihut, could solo and the band even featured renowned author J.B. Stump on bass.
Be interactive. It’s not about the host, but about those who come. Get them on stage, let them talk, and create a synergy among the audience members. Sometimes audiences bond because they’re sharing in an event of significance (a moving concert, powerful speech, or meaningful worship service), but good event planners pay attention to how the attendees can leave realizing they didn’t just watch something, but they were a part of something. And that builds your event’s reputation for the future.
Keep it moving and don’t take too long … for anything.  One of the surest signs of poor planning is that certain elements go way too long.  What separates quality events from mediocre ones are the transitions.  Good program planners, even those who plan worship services for Sunday mornings, think through transitions. They pay attention to how something is introduced, who is moving on and off the stage, what media is playing when, how the audience is instructed, etc.

It’s not about the host.  He/she just takes the prepared material and delivers it. True, some of us enjoy this type of thing more than others, but pre-planning and attention to details are what make an event special. And anyone can do those.

What would you add to this list?  What are some of the elements you see as important? What are your pet peeves when attending an event?

 

The post 5 Pro Tips to Make your Next Event Better appeared first on In this Corner of the World - TerryLinhart.com.

Being Inviting is better than Being Friendly

Each semester I assign students in my online class (Exploring the Christian Faith) to attend a Christian church service dissimilar from their own tradition. If they don’t have a church background, I give them some ideas and I also encourage Protestants to visit a Catholic or Orthodox church (and vice versa) if they haven’t been to one.  It’s been a great assignment and students have done well with it.

One student went to a large church and she said that the ushers were “friendly but not inviting.”  You know those moments; though there were smiles, handshakes, and warmth, she never felt like they wanted to know her.  There was no empathy, just a performance.

We work with our own teenage children about how to, as Hybels includes in his book Axiom, “pay attention to your hello’s and good bye’s.”  We want to not only perform friendliness, but to see connection person-to-person, as people who also sometimes feel insecure, who say things they wish they could take back, and who seek to fit in somewhere.

Friendliness can still keep people at a distance. We can smile and greet others, but clearly not want to connect any deeper than that. We don’t want to invite them into our circle where we live, where we belong, and where it may cost us.

I’ve watched numerous businesses function these past two holiday weeks and I’m routinely surprised how poor the point of customer contact is.  Even with what seems to be solid supervisory structures, cashiers seem put off to be at work, Christmas tree farm workers seem annoyed that people showed up to buy their trees, and public service people seemed to wish they could work without the public!

The year 2014 and beyond will be a period of invitation. With myriads of choices for people’s time, attention, and dollars, it won’t be enough to be friendly – every car dealer and college says their friendly – it will be those who want us to be a part of their circle that will get a second look.

So, think about your work.  Does it feel inviting to others? Are you doing more than just being friendly at the door, but seeking ways that your community (your circle) can be a place of warmth AND empathy?

The post Being Inviting is better than Being Friendly appeared first on In this Corner of the World - TerryLinhart.com.

Inviting trumps being friendly

Each semester I assign students in my online class (Exploring the Christian Faith) to attend a Christian church service dissimilar from their own tradition. If they don’t have a church background, I give them some ideas and I also encourage Protestants to visit a Catholic or Orthodox church (and vice versa) if they haven’t been to one.  It’s been a great assignment and students have done well with it.

One student went to a large church and she said that the ushers were “friendly but not inviting.”  You know those moments; though there were smiles, handshakes, and warmth, she never felt like they wanted to know her.  There was no empathy, just a performance.

We work with our own teenage children about how to, as Hybels includes in his book Axiom, “pay attention to your hello’s and good bye’s.”  We want to not only perform friendliness, but to see connection person-to-person, as people who also sometimes feel insecure, who say things they wish they could take back, and who seek to fit in somewhere.

Friendliness can still keep people at a distance. We can smile and greet others, but clearly not want to connect any deeper than that. We don’t want to invite them into our circle where we live, where we belong, and where it may cost us.

I’ve watched numerous businesses function these past two holiday weeks and I’m routinely surprised how poor the point of customer contact is.  Even with what seems to be solid supervisory structures, cashiers seem put off to be at work, Christmas tree farm workers seem annoyed that people showed up to buy their trees, and public service people seemed to wish they could work without the public!

The year 2014 and beyond will be a period of invitation. With myriads of choices for people’s time, attention, and dollars, it won’t be enough to be friendly – every car dealer and college says their friendly – it will be those who want us to be a part of their circle that will get a second look.

So, think about your work.  Does it feel inviting to others? Are you doing more than just being friendly at the door, but seeking ways that your community (your circle) can be a place of warmth AND empathy?

The post Inviting trumps being friendly appeared first on In this Corner of the World - TerryLinhart.com.

Is God Enough?

I have a friend who is an accomplished surgeon, a wise man older than me from whom I’ve learn so much about caring for people in the midst of trauma and crisis. One night as he drove home from the hospital, the sunset colors exploded across the sky. Overwhelmed, he had to stop and worship the One who created such beautiful moments. Tears welled up in his eyes and he felt both small and giant as the colors burned the western sky, sending light cross the sky overhead and even into his car.  The shadows were gone and he sat there, praying, weeping, and in awe.

He picked up the phone to call his wife and tell her to go outside the house and see the sunset.  As he picked up his phone, he said it was as if God spoke to his mind and asked why he had to do that. Why was it that he had to do something in that moment?  Wasn’t God enough?

It makes sense to share beauty and holiness with others, doesn’t it? When we experience life-changing moments, we want others (particularly ones we dearly love) to share those too. But some of us in ministry run to the “doing” when profound moments happen. We read a Bible passage and feel deeply challenged, so we stop to write it down as a lesson for next Sunday. We pray so little, thinking it not to be central to our vocation, the practices of ministry seem more critical.  We slip from the early intimate days with God, when He called us to our vocation and purpose, and forget that these “God” moments are for our benefit and relationship with Him.  That we need to realize God is enough. For us.

It’s advent, a time for celebrating the face that God is the God who comes. He is One who lights up the sky and reminds us that we are both small and giant.  Compared to Him we are small, but because of Him and his image on our being we are giant, even taking on the title of “children” of God.

May this advent season be one where you and I realize that God is enough and that our busy-work is not.

The post Is God Enough? appeared first on In this Corner of the World - TerryLinhart.com.

When Trivia Rules our Free Time

Maybe it’s due to the fact that I’ve raised three teenagers or that I work with college students each week, but I’ve been noticing how people spend their free time.  I’ve been noticing that some folks don’t seem to have free time at all, no margins within which to be in unhurried relationship with others and even less time to reflect on life without noise competing for those thoughts.

Do we spend our free time well?  Do I?  How much free time should we have?  My latest project has me reading from the church fathers and mothers and their formative quests for a greater intimacy with Christ. Their disciplined pursuits are a challenge to our pleasure-seeking culture and its consumeristic underpinnings that press in on our time, attention, giving, and desires.

A computer program comes with “default” settings – fonts, sounds, graphic quality, etc.  We’ve been shaped in ways over time that have produced our own default settings, choices we make in how we speak, think, relate, and in what makes us feel better.  Our culture has changed these settings over time. Smoking isn’t the acceptable public activity it was 40 years ago, when you could even smoke on a airplane!  It used to be that using a cell phone in the presence of others was rude, now we place our cell phones out on the table while in meetings.  For recreation now, instead of being outside or reading a book, most of us say “let’s watch a movie” and see what’s on NetFlix that we haven’t seen more than three times before.

Some say we have to “make the most” of our days and often shame people into feeling like they’re not doing enough.  And you can insert your particular issue here. We all have those people in our lives that, no matter what we do and accomplish, they point out what we could do even more.  In reality, we are like that too, though our issues are different. 

Trivia seems to rule the day, an easier default setting than a life live with disciplined learning. I see this every year when students come to college with the goal of being educated and learning.  As students discover they have to be disciplined to read, write, and communicate at a deeper and more sustained level, you can see them struggle with this new level of commitment. The struggle is person, often emotional, and behavioral more than it is a struggle to do the work.

The root of amusement is “a-muse” or to be without thought.  Just look at someone watching a video screen game or movie and you can often see this on their face.

I wonder how we in Christian ministry do at helping our people think and learn deeper than their default approaches.  We seem to make long stories short, we circumvent theological difficulties, we teach the same 20 topics (roughly) each year, and most of us leaders don’t (by default) read deeply. Yet, disciplined reading is crucial to our success and well-being.

What if we worked against default?  If we read in a disciplined way, even against the grain sometimes, and quit surrounding ourselves with ourselves … what would that do? What would we then be able to offer the world?  What would happen?

Not default.

Something better.

Something new.

Not default.

 

 

The post When Trivia Rules our Free Time appeared first on In this Corner of the World - TerryLinhart.com.