Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus in his book,   Mind Shift  (p. 41). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Now that is a very interesting thought. Erwin says, "Leaders create clarity, raise standards, and call people to more. By definition, this creates a dividing line. Great leaders are not afraid to define what it means to be on their team, organization, or movement. They know their vision isn’t for everyone, and they recognize those with a shared vision. Great leaders also know that great teams form when there is a sifting process." He goes on, "For years I allowed those most resistant to change to have the most influence on our rate, pace, and scale of transformation—even though this went completely against my natural inclination. I was an idealist. I genuinely valued people, and I thought that meant that I should act as if every person could thrive in our new reality. What I didn’t realize is that mo...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus in his book,   Mind Shift  (p. 35). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Erwin says, "You can be great and never be famous. You might be a scientist who discovers the cure for a disease, for example, but science doesn’t play well on TikTok, so you may end up living the rest of your life in obscurity. You might be a great mathematician who unlocks the mysteries of the universe and at best become a household name among a handful of physicists. Maybe your grandfather worked the coal mines, or the assembly line, or the front lines, all to create a better life for his children and grandchildren. Is his greatness any less great for the lack of fame?" He continues, "Here’s the key: Don’t try to keep up with those who use all their energy pursuing fame. They are on the fast track. You need to play the long game. But know that if you do this, it might not go well for you in the sh...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus in his book,   Mind Shift  (p. 23). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that is what we want and need. We look at our lives and realize there are some things that need to change. Going back, Erwin said, "When you make the mind shift that it’s not all about you—it’s all about the people whose lives change for the better because of you—it is transformational." He then continues, "What does this shift look like in practice? It’s choosing to be kind. It’s tipping well when people serve you. It’s taking time to acknowledge the people around you and remember their names. It’s speaking well of people when they are not in the room. It’s remembering who helped you when you needed them, and returning the favor. It’s making time for friendship. It’s refusing to have the mentality that it’s not personal, it’s just business. It’s making sure it’s always personal. It’s listening. ...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus in his book,   Mind Shift  (p. 21). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that is so important for us to comprehend, to understand and to live out. Here is what Erwin says around this thought. He says, "I have friends who made the conscious choice to put their relationships on the back burner while they built their personal empire. There is a lot to be said about that kind of intentionality. "The danger, of course, is that you can become blind to the importance of the people in your life. No one succeeds alone. Yet some people take all the credit for the success in their lives. Success is far richer, more meaningful, and more sustainable when you build it in the context of healthy relationships. People must never be a means to an end. Relationships should never be simply utilitarian." Doing it together, whatever it is, can be, as he says, "more meaningful and mor...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus in his book,   Mind Shift  (p. 18). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is a thought that we really do need to realize is true, don't we? Erwin starts chapter 1 by saying, "The longer you live, the more you come to realize that it is inevitable that you will lose things." Later he says, "The best way to lose your life and look back with regret is to never mature past the mindset that life is all about things. We need to be careful that we’ve not simply replaced fighting over the LEGOs in the nursery with fighting over who has the most Lamborghinis. We cannot accumulate enough things to make our lives worth living. A Lamborghini He goes on, "Eventually, most of us transition into the second stage of development. For people in this stage, life is no longer about things but about experiences. Often it’s filled with firsts. Our first crush. Our first date. Our ...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus in his book,   Mind Shift  (p. 9). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is a very challenging thought, isn't it? Erwin continues, "Life is an unpredictable and beautiful journey filled with both adventure and danger. That is, of course, if you choose life rather than existence. Life doesn’t just happen. If your life is happening by accident, you are only existing. If you are living beneath your potential, you are only existing. If you’ve surrendered your uniqueness for acceptance, you are only existing. If you are living for pleasure and profit rather than love and purpose, you are only existing." In other words "We were always just one choice away."   Maybe you are in those young years and you are striving to figure all of this out. Or maybe where I am in my older years and realizing that I still have choices. That I am not limited by my years. No matter wh...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 45). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) And that is important to know. Erwin continues, "Genius is a form of stewardship. To unlock your genius, you must choose to bear the weight of great responsibility. When Mary asked Jesus why he had gone to the Temple, his answer reflected a nonnegotiable intention: 'Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house?' He must be there. He must do this. This was not optional. This was his purpose." Erwin says, "There were many things Jesus did not come to do. He did not solve all the world’s problems or remove corrupt leaders from their positions. There were many things, too, that Jesus did, but that were not his purpose. He did heal the sick, but he did not heal all the sick. He came to save humanity from itself. He came to do what no one else could do. In this way, all manifes...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 42). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) We always, it seems, want to give answers but it's in our questions where we really find ourselves and learn? Erwin says, "For three days Jesus sat there, deep in conversation with experts on the Torah and the teachers of the Law. These men had spent their entire lives studying the ancient text we know as the scriptures. They were also the stewards of the over 613 laws that had been added to the Law and the Prophets, dictating the Israelites’ behavior and everyday lives. We are told that Jesus sat among these great teachers for days, listening to them and asking them questions. It is one thing for a twelve-year-old to have information memorized by rote repetition. It’s quite another for him to understand the complexity of the material well enough to ask meaningful questions." He continues...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 32). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)  That is a very interesting and challenging thought. Erwin continues, "The question that demands to be answered is: Where did it go, and what would you be willing to do to reawaken the genius within you?" He says, "I’ve interviewed countless people and taken hundreds of informal surveys while speaking to audiences around the world. When I ask a room, 'How many of you would describe yourselves as creative geniuses?' the number of people who answer affirmatively is usually less than 1 percent. Ninety-nine percent of the room consider themselves uncreative, and at best wish they were creative like those they admire. "I usually ask a follow-up question: 'How many of you would consider yourselves linguistic savants?' The number who say they do is even less than 1 percent....

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 26). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) So that is a necessary place to start. Erwin continues this thought, "If we can understand the origins of genius, we might discover how to replicate it for ourselves. Put another way, we can ask: What does a genius do instinctively that we could begin to do intentionally?" They can do it! He says, "I discovered the critical relationship of the loss of divergent thinking in adulthood and its detrimental impact in every discipline of life while working with universities to develop master’s and doctoral programs, consulting with CEOs and entrepreneurs, doing life coaching with professional athletes and sports leagues, and consulting with churches and denominations. According to one study, at least 95 percent of children are divergent thinkers before the age of twelve. In other words, we are...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 26). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) So true, so very true. Erwin says, "It is one thing when genius gives us new music, a new art form or technology, or a great advancement in science or medicine. But while genius can give us a better world to live in, it almost never makes us better, kinder, more compassionate, more honorable, more courageous, more humane." He continues, "I think of the phrase we often use as an excuse for our worst behavior: 'Well, I’m only human.' Our history as a species is riddled with love and hate, with compassion and violence, with betrayal and loyalty, with bitterness and forgiveness. All these are equally the human story. The tragedy is that somewhere along the line, the worst expressions of our nature became the norm and the best of us became lost in ideals. Religion told us we were all ...

  A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 24). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Maybe this is true of you. Erwin continues, "Frankly, a huge reason I am compelled to believe is because of who I was, who I have become, and who I am still becoming. My high school English literature teacher told me not to bother going to college because I would never make it. Forty years later I am the author of ten books, have won awards as a writer, and have received a doctorate in humane letters. I didn’t have a future before my encounter with Jesus. Now, for more than thirty-five years, I have traveled the world and made a living as a futurist consulting with corporations and coaching CEOs, entrepreneurs, and leaders from the business world, professional sports, and higher education." A caterpillar to a butterfly He then says, "I am convinced that my life is the outcome of th...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 20). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) This is good. Erwin continues, "I fully believe in the divinity of Jesus and in the historical accuracy of all the scriptures. I believe God stepped into human history, took on flesh and blood, and walked among us, and that his name is Jesus. It doesn’t lessen my fascination with the humanity of Jesus. Neither does it diminish his genius." He says, "If you are a person of faith, it may feel offensive to you to explore Jesus’s genius apart from his divinity. But I believe that we have for too long attributed all that Jesus did, and all that he was, to his divine nature. Other than convincing us of his divinity, I wonder, what can we learn from the Jesus who walked on water, fed thousands with only five fish and two loaves of bread, and healed the sick? Could it be that our fixation on the...

  A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 18). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Erwin goes on, "Or maybe, Jesus made me human again. "The data goes far beyond my own personal experience. For more than two thousand years, millions of people across the world have been transformed through their faith in Jesus Christ. If you were a cultural anthropologist looking to examine this phenomenon from a purely scientific perspective, you would have a massive sample size. The control group stretches across all of modern history, every economic and educational stratum, and virtually every culture across the face of the earth." He says, "Academics even have a term for how a culture is transformed through belief in Jesus Christ: 'redemption and lift.' In his book Underdevelopment Is a State of Mind , economist Lawrence E. Harrison observed how the Christian mindset...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book,  The Genius of Jesus   (p. 16). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Good, good, what are they? Unbelievable! Erwin says, "Genius sees what no one has seen and hears what no one has heard. It explains what could not be understood, creates what could not be imagined. Whatever the genius does with their talents, they do it better than it has ever been done—and, more often than not, make it look easy while doing it." He continues, "If I were to make a short list of what marks a genius, I would say: They are heretical. They are original. They are transformative in their field. They are extremist. "They are heretical in that they violate the status quo and challenge our most deeply held beliefs and values. They are original in that they see the world from a perspective that has never existed before. They are transformative in that their lives become a mar...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, from his book, The Genius of Jesus   (p. 7). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Genius, maybe there is something here to challenge us. Erwin says, "The word 'genius' is expressive of the capacity to be generative. The genius gives birth to something new. The genius creates. The mark of true genius is that the impossible becomes possible. The unknowable becomes knowable. The invisible becomes visible. The genius speaks the future into existence. Genius expresses itself in every domain in which humans create. Wherever there is a field of human accomplishment, there is potential for the expression of genius." He goes on, "The genius does not always have the highest IQ, the best education, or even the most comprehensive knowledge of their field. But their combination of originality, imagination, creativity, perspective, passion, and intelligence merge together to ...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Way of the Warrior (p. 55). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Is competition outdated, is it wrong?   Good question Erwin says, “Our schools are not only eliminating the designation of winners and losers, but they have actually gone as far as to eliminate scoring altogether so no one knows who is ahead and who is behind. “We are far more comfortable with the language of cooperation and collaboration than we are with the language of competition. Our negative view of competition is often put on hold when we watch such events as the Olympics, the World Cup, the Super Bowl, and the NBA Finals. But as a whole, we have adopted a framework that suggests that competition is archaic and antiquated and must be eliminated from the human story. Yet without competition, we lack the necessary context to push ourselves beyond our own capacities. ” In...