Pride

I subscribe to John Maxwell's Leadership Wired, a monthly newsletter with great leadership articles (if you are interested, you can sign up HERE).

This month's lead article is about pride - a dangerous and deadly problem for every leader or person in the spotlight.

Pull a 10-dollar bill from your pocket, and you will see the face of Alexander Hamilton on the front. By merit of his accomplishments, Hamilton should be one of our greatest national heroes. Consider his contributions to America:

• Revolutionary War hero
• George Washington’s chief of staff by age 22
• America’s first Secretary of the Treasury
• Co-author of The Federalist Papers
• Creator of the Coast Guard
• Designer of the nation’s banking and finance system
• Architect of a system of tax collection to bring revenue to the U.S. Government
• Builder of the infrastructure for an industrial economy

Yet, despite displaying the greatest blend of legal, political, and financial knowledge of the founding fathers, Hamilton does not rank among the foremost heroes of our country’s history. Why? Pride. Hamilton’s self-importance and inability to take an insult alienated those around him and sabotaged his career. His ego literally killed him. Far too vain to patch up differences with fellow politician, Aaron Burr, Hamilton was shot and killed by Burr in a duel at the age of 49...

There are two kinds of pride, both good and bad. “Good pride” represents our dignity and self-respect. “Bad pride” is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance. When you look at the word pride, notice the middle letter is “I”. When you are full of pride on the inside, it makes you stiff, stubborn, and creates strife with others.

The Problems of Pride

1. Pride Stops Us from Building a Team.
2. Pride Renders Us Unteachable.
3. Pride Closes Our Mind to Feedback.
4. Pride Prevents Us from Admitting Mistakes.
5. Pride Keeps Us from Making Changes.
6. Pride Encourages Poor Character Choices
7. Pride Hinders Us from Reaching Our Potential.
8. Pride Destroys Relationships.
9. Pride Distorts Your Perspective on Reality

How to Correct the Pride Problem

1. Recognize Your Pride
2. Admit Your Pride
3. Express Your Gratitude
4. Say Your Prayers
5. Practice Serving Others
6. Learn to Laugh at Yourself

Read the entire article HERE.

A Little Magic...

When I was a kid, I loved magic. I was the king of cheesy card tricks.

Thanks to Vic of The Wonderful Noise for finding THIS LINK to 10 great magic tricks and how they are done.

Abracadabra!

5 Things

I got tagged by Nerd family, so here goes... five things you may not know about me:

1. I started my freshman year in high school at 6' 4" and weighed 110 lbs. Then I got mono... I missed the first two weeks of school sicker than a dog! When I came back, I was so sick that I lost 20 pounds - I was 6' 4" and 90 lbs. I was my own World vision commercial.
2. When they are on, my favorite shows on TV are Top Chef and and Project Runway.
3. My first date with Mrs. Two Blonde Boys was on Valentine's Day, 1987. We went to The Chart House.
   
4. I love Louis Lamour books and would LOVE to have the leather bound set.
5. I love to fish. I rarely catch anything.
   

A Very Funny Night of TV

I think I've watched Scrubs once for a few minutes. But the other night, I watched the whle thing and it was one of the funniest shows I've seen on TV in a long time. They did it as a musical.

If you missed it, check out this clip of some of the episode. I am still laughing!



HT: Pied Piper... Piping?

How to Fold a Shirt

You may have seen this before, but if you haven't it's great (and it works!). My shirts have never looked so good.

Friendship

I got this from a friend of mine:

"A friend hears the song in my heart and hums the tune when I have lost the beat."

Better Blogs

Ever go on a blog, look at the blog roll, and wonder, "Which ones are good?"

I'd like to think most of the links I have are ones that you would enjoy, but let me point out some ones that you might want to try right now:

• Tony Morgan: Tony has great insights into church and leadership.
  
• Kem Meyer: the third blogger in my "Granger Blogging Trinity. I enjoy Kem's thoughts on communicating better and our peeks into her life.
• Bruce D. Johnson: This guy is all about the experience. This should be required discussion material for church staffs.
  

So go ahead... click away. You'll be glad you did!

Random Acts of Video

I am still laughing...

TBB - The Year in Pictures

It's been quite a year. It's hard to believe another one has gone by. It seems like New Years 2006 came about a month ago.

Anyway, here's what happened in '06...

JANUARY

• Rang in the new year with our friends, the Wolfs, Sailors, Chamberlins, Gallaghers, and Ragsdales.
  
  

FEBRUARY

• Went to the Re:create Conference. If you are a Worship Pastor, Worship Leader, Arts Pastor, Creative Director... whatever... this conference is for you. Last year was pretty incredible (Barb Nicolosi, Paul Baloche, Aaron Shust, the XXX Church guys). Don't miss it this year. It's coming up in February - Feb. 5-8. In the past, it has only been for large churches, but this year, it's for churches of all sizes. Click on the link NOW and sign up for re:create!

MAY

• I turned 40... yikes! Had a great party with many friends. One of the highlights was my friend, Bob, and his band played.
  
  

JUNE

• Annual guy's camp trip with my oldest son (the littlest blonde boy joins us next year). Our "usual" spot, Lake Edison, was snowed in, so we camped at the Hume Lake Campground. The porcelain toilets were a definite plus (but we caught no fish).
  
• A few weeks later I went down to the Saddleback Worship conference where I caught up with the Ragamuffin Soul man, Carlos Whittaker.

JULY

• After returning from the Saddleback Conference, we set up for (on the newly poured blacktop in 100 degree heat) and did our 4th of July show at New Covenant, complete with a firework show.
• Vacationed at the coast with our good friends.
• Also, welcomed my twin niece and nephew - Mercer Rose and Hudson Patrick - into the world.

AUGUST

• Vacationed at the Lake house on Lake Arrowhead. Very relaxing. Chase got up on skis for the first time (check it out HERE)... then we broke the boat. But we ended up with an awesome VIDEO.
  
• My dad got baptized.
• My friend Bob - the one from my party - passed away.

SEPTEMBER

• Back to school for the Two Blonde Boys. One started kindergarten (and lost his first tooth!), the other Jr. High!
• I went on the annual houseboat trip on Lake Don Pedro with my brothers from San Jose.

OCTOBER

• Oldest blonde boy became a teenager (complete with a limo ride to the party, courtesy of Aunt Dawn and Aunt Maria).
• Halloween party at the Wolfs! We dressed up like the Pink Ladies and the biker dudes (or the guys who happened to be with the pink ladies while wearing leather jackets).

NOVEMBER

• Went to the Drive Conference at North Point Church in Alpharetta, GA, as a guest of my buddy, Reg. We had a great time (and ate some great food!) Came home and did an off-site Celebration Service that was a great time and really rocked.
• Littlest blonde boy turned 6.

DECEMBER

• Our littlest blonde boy was in his first Christmas show (with a speaking part, no less). Cute!
  
• Then we did 4 Christmas services and 4 Christmas Eve services. I was ready for some vacation!