A Perspective on Generosity

A perspective on generosity from my household head: "Generosity is about losing the fear that we will be in want."  The reason why people don't give is that they fear that they will not have enough.  Yet, the Psalmist exhorts us in Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing i shall want." And further he says, "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters..."  Tithing leads us to lose this fear, for we know that God will take care of us.  I've heard of endless stories of people who tithe faithfully and have been blessed abundantly.

When we are generous, our love for money is lessened and our love for God is magnified.  Let us give even if it is difficult at first, and let us continue to give until the fear of uncertainty is gone.

The Power of a Good Story

"A key, perhaps the key, to leadership... is the effective communication of a story." - Howard Gardener
All of us are leaders. We lead our families, our younger siblings, a group, a basketball team, employees. In whatever level, everybody is given a leadership role. Even my 4 year old son, Sev, leads when surrounded by 2 year old playmates. There are many views on effective leadership. But it is hardly mentioned that a good leader tells a good story. We can do a text book approach in leading others, but see how the mood changes once you tell a story about something or someone. A story has a way of driving a point without hard selling your view. A story has a way of touching our emotions and moving us into action.
Jesus, the greatest leader of all time, was a really good story teller. We are inspired from His parables. The story of the Israelites and the first Christian community are our references for our Christian living.
Here are some of my ideas of the elements of good story telling. I call it the 4C's of a good story.


1. Creativity with Integrity.
Be sure nothing is exaggerated or altered. The details should be truthful. A good story can stand on its own. You need only discover it and present it creatively.
2. Clear Analogy
The symbols and characters of the story must address the point you are trying to convey or the values you want to instill.
3. Concise
The story should not be long and winding. Build it up properly. A pattern can be: Before, During (turning point), After, Present, and Hope for the Future.
4. Call to Action
Upon reaching a high point in the story, when the listeners are engaged, there should be a call to action. How can the audience respond to your challenge? Otherwise, you'd end up ranting and with no solution.

A good story to tell is your own story, your testimony. If you are selling a product, be sure you're using it, otherwise you will lose integrity. Walking the talk is at the heart of motivation.
Another is to highlight best practices. There are groups or individuals in your network or field that are doing great in their way of working. Perhaps other groups will pick up and do the same.

Lastly, you can tell the story of the lessons from your prototype or template or sample group. When you have a great idea, you test it, evaluate, and refine until it is ready for replication.
Since we were kids, we were gifted by God of the curiosity and interest for stories. Just look at how the kids' eyes are round with excitement at every turn of a story. Not much has changed for us adults. Let us use the power of a good story to make us effective leaders.

Reflection:
1. When was the last time you told someone a story to drive a lesson or express an idea?
2. What's your story? Organize your personal testimony.

Are You Accountable?

How clear are our "accountabilities?" If something should fail, is there someone who is accountable? Often organizations, systems of government, and families fail because of a lack of accountability.  We hear, "It's not my fault, it's your fault" or "It's everybody's fault" or "Isn't that your job?"

This post is not about pointing fingers, but about taking responsibility. At home, we have to know who is accountable why the money is not managed well.  At work, someone should be accountable why sales are down. In an organization, someone has to be answerable why the membership is dwindling.

Here's a story that I read in my grade school days that very much relates to this topic:


WHO DID IT?


There is a story about four people. Their names are EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, and NOBODY. The story goes that there was a very important job that needed to be done. EVERYBODY was asked to do this job. Now ANYBODY could have done this job but NOBODY was willing to do it. Then SOMEBODY got angry about this because it was EVERYBODY'S job to do. Well, EVERYBODY thought that ANYBODY could have done it! But NOBODY realized that EVERYBODY blamed SOMEBODY for not doing the job. Still NOBODY did it. The arguing got worse and finally NOBODY would talk to ANYBODY and EVERYBODY blamed SOMEBODY. What a shame that ANYBODY could have done the job and EVERYBODY could have helped SOMEBODY but yet NOBODY did it!


If there is something you know must be done, don't wait for ANYBODY else to do it or hope that SOMEBODY else will do it because NOBODY else will do it unless you show EVERYBODY else how to do it.



A lack of accountability can be addressed through:

1. Good communication
Having clear expectations resolves a lot of future problems. Knowing what is expected of us makes us accountable. Writing what you agreed on paper helps in expectation setting.

2. Leadership initiative
Once we know our responsibilities, our initiatives as a leader will pave the way for strategies that will address a concern.  Without leadership we will just be waiting on someone else to do it for us, when we clearly know it is our responsibility.  You may get away with the responsibility, but you will also lose relevance.

3. Sincerity

At the heart of accountability is our sincerity to accomplish our commitments.  If you are sincere, you will take it upon yourself to be accountable for the environment, our country, our society, and family.  Our sincerity is rooted from a genuine care for what we are doing.  Those who waste 'office time' are not sincere enough and often make excuses.

 From the very start God was clear on accountability.  Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth (Gen 1:26).  Webster defines dominion as supreme authority.  Therefore, someone who has dominion or supreme authority over something is accountable, regardless of how big or small it is.

Often the word accountable is associated with being liable to an accident or something that went wrong that cost some money or damage.  It is often taken negatively.  But let us take a second look on accountability.  The posture of being accountable will push us to have integrity, to achieve more, and to serve others more.  Let us remember that we are accountable to God.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable (Hebrews 4:13).  Let us give our best for Him for he has entrusted us to spread His Word throughout the world.

In Search of Clarity

Clarity is an elusive quality.  We want to be clear so that there will be no confusion. Yet, we yearn for freshness, something exciting, and surprising.  They say, "You cannot box-in the Holy Spirit."

"The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:8)."


What if everything was laid out before us?  Just to be clear.  We would know what will make us successful, when we would die, and we would know exactly what heaven looks like.  No mystery, no surprises.  No more searching, no more praying. I'm sure life will be boring and we'd be acting like robots.

The future is not known to us for a purpose. It is hard to see the reason behind the tragic things that happen to us or to a friend.  Our faith is often challenged by the desire to know everything right away.  We ask, "Why me Lord?" or  "Where were you  Lord?" We get angry at God because we assume that He did not answer our prayers.

Yet for the Lord, a thousand years is like a blink of an eye. 

"But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years* and a thousand years like one day (2 Peter 3: 8)."


Our prayers have been heard and answered. The answers might not be what we excpect, some answers are beyond our lifetime, some answers we see immediately.

The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).


So, why did some good person get an accident or become a victim of a heinous crime? Only God knows the true reason (Jer. 29:11). Our requirement is to have faith that God is good...all the time.

Living a life in the Holy Spirit is fresh, exciting, and full of surprises. It is meant to be unclear, to be a mystery, so we do not stop seeking and yearning for God.  Those who deny God's existence are uncomfortable of what they cannot see or control. They try to box-in life, yet after thousands of years and all these so-called geniuses, no one has found the cure for the common cold.

Let us not stop asking the Lord for clarity of His will for our lives but at same time we have to keep our faith firm when we are confused and the circumstances are unreasonable. If there is one thing that is clear, it is that God loves us and He has a plan for us.

Learning from Steve

Today, it was announced that Steve Jobs passed away.  I'm a fan of his leadership and his relentless pursuit for excellence and innovation. He went through many challenges in life. He was adopted, a college drop-out, got kicked out from apple and back again, and suffered a rare illness. Yet despite all odds, through his leadership he gave us the mac, ipod, iphone, ipad, and even Toy Story through his Pixar years.  His inspiring 2005 Commencement speech in Stanford University went viral. He was a master presenter and blew the audience away with his new product ideas.  He changed technology forever.

What can we get out of Steve Jobs' life?

1. He turned defeats into victories.  He had all the reasons to quit and lose hope, but he kept on moving forward until one thing led to another then it led to success.  He knew that there was a reason for everything, evident in his "connect the dots" analogy of life (see his 2005 Stanford speech).

2. He was a master innovator. Steve would "cannibalize" his own products. The iphone could do almost everything that the ipod had to offer.  He knew how to excite the people with new ideas.  We need to be able to innovate our work, our products, or even ourselves.  Having the drive for innovation makes us lifelong learners.  Innovators always challenge the status quo and they know that there is something better than what they see.

3. He finished strong. He resigned as CEO of Apple at the height of his career. I even saw in the news at that time that Apple had more money than the US gov't.  I feel that if he lived longer, he could have given more. He was only 56. The tech world will surely miss him. A void is being felt by the tech industry.  He gave his utmost and truly finished strong.

I am uncertain if Steve Jobs was a Christian. But through his life, we can reflect on how we should live our lives. Christ offers us the fullness of life. With Christ, we can turn our defeats into victories. Jesus innovates our lives by renewing us with his love and He wants us to finish strong by serving Him 'til the end.


I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14).