Possibility Thinkers

The people that inspire me most are "possibility thinkers." These folks truly look at what is not and create. To me, Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple, Inc. has always been one of those people. 30 years ago venture capitalists asked him, "Why would anyone need a home computer?" Few of us can live without one now.

He is a possibility thinker. He is the speaker of one of my favorite quotes. In an attempt to bring on Pepsi Executive John Sculley in the early 80's, Jobs famously said, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world." For a time, that quote was written in my office as a way to remind me that my business is supposed to be world-changing.

I think the church needs a healthy does of possibility thinkers. Anyone can tell you why something won't work. It takes special people to dream big dreams and pursue meaningful ideas. Jobs deeply believes that what he does is the most important and meaningful thing he could be doing. And for that reason, he is not a great salesman, but a true believer. And it works! Jobs, and the culture he helped shape at Apple, is always chasing the thing that no one has thought of yet. Or a way to make the existing thing the best it can be.

He realizes that to change the world we need large, expansive and compelling ideas. That's what people respond to. For that reason, there is now a sign in my office that simple reads, "What if..."

Words are Powerful

Well, it's done.

Today Barack Obama announced that he is forming an "exploratory committee" for a presidential run. Now, I know almost nothing about Barack -- and this is not a political blog -- but I do know that as we celebrated the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. yesterday and with Obama's announcement today, that the spoken word is powerful. Hardly anyone outside of Illinois knows much about Obama, which is what makes him a attractive candidate to so many, but what we do know is that his speech stole the show at the last Democratic National Convention. People have always responded to uplifting, powerful words spoken with grace and dignity. Barack is now running for president based largely on the delivery of one speech. That's not to suggest he is not qualified, but rather a reminder to those of us who speak for a living, that worlds can and do change when the right words are used at the right time and used in the right way.

As one theologian has said, "Words create worlds."

A good word, spoken with passion, life and hope can change the world.

Just think, when God created the world, He did so with words.The gospel of John captures this beautifully, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Or as Genesis puts it, "...then God said..."

Let us all choose our words carefully! And speak them with grace!

Scrubs Teds Band -- Great Music. Great Fun.

As a life long member of churches of Christ, I grew up with a cappella music. It has always been a part of my life. At the same time, I also love the NBC Comedy Scrubs, particularly "Ted's Band" or "The Blanks" as they're known in the real world.

The creator of Scrubs loves The Blanks, though many folks don't understand why anyone would be interested in music without instruments. The Blanks are an actually group -- and existed before Scrubs began. At one point they were known as "The Worthless Peons."

Anyway, I'm glad that my appreciation of a cappella music and Scrubs frequently comes together when Ted's Band is on the show. Check out their website at www.theblankswebsite.com

Things I Shouldn't Say (don't think less of me).

For the sake of integrity, I feel that every now and then I should share my spiritual weaknesses with you all. It's true. I am not perfect. There are many areas in life in which I struggle. One of those areas is coveting.

And you better believe that after watching Steve Jobs' keynote at MacExpo this week, I am in full coveting mode over the new iPhone. Now you should know, the "iPhone" name won't stick. My best information is that another company does, and has for a while, own the trademark name "iPhone."

But who cares what it's called? This phone is the most amazing device I've ever seen and I want one NOW! My coveting is so deep that I actually thanked God that I had already decided to switch my cell service to Cingular in June when my contract with another carrier is over. I truly felt that the end of my contract, the fact that I was going to buy a new iPod this summer and the release of the iPhone all in June was providential. How crazy is that?

And on a lighter side, I usually detest celebrity news but I'm loving the Trump vs Rosie feud. Before Rosie got off her blasts against Trump and his hair (which she released simply because he gave a troubled girl a second chance) I never really cared for either, but I've gotta say, "I'm loving The Donald right now." Rosie picked a fight that she can't win. She thought she was being funny by making fun of Trump for no real reason and he unleashed a brutal attack on her. The smack that he is laying on her - and Barbara Walters now too - has been classic. She showed up for a gunfight with a rubber knife and she's getting her clock cleaned. Yesterday Trump called her a "third-rate comedian" and that Barbara said, "working with her was like a living hell."

Wow!

Now, I'm not on Donald's side because of the mean things he's said (things that shouldn't have beens said about anyone), but rather because Rosie has a history of shooting off her mouth, saying hateful and hurtful things about people. It was just a few weeks ago that for no reason at all she called Kelly Ripa homophobic . And apparently, I'm not the only person who thinks that Rosie has created this herself. I'm not saying that she deserves this or that getting torn up in the media is good. But it seems like the majority of Americans might.

We live in a politically correct culture where anyone who called someone else "fat, ugly, disgusting, etc..." would hear from every circle that he or she needed to apologize--and they would need to. But in this case there's been no calls to apologize. No one has said anything. Why? Because it's Rosie. The majority response has been the sound of one hand clapping. It's almost like people are saying, "Yeah, that's Rosie!" If Trump had called anyone else "disgusting" he would have had serious consequences, yet in this case, everyone just seems to be happy to watch the daily furor.

I think there's a lesson here about being a person who speaks words of grace about and to others. When you become known for attacking other people simply because you don't like them or you don't like their perspective or politics (and Rosie has launched vicious attacks on people who stand opposed to her politics) then there aren't going to be a lot of people in line to defend you. And when you dishonor people, some people will dishonor you in return.