I’ve been trying to catch up on past episodes of the podcast and listened to an interview that Jim Higley did with author Jim Moorhead. I found the content of the interview to be quite intriguing and thought provoking (you can listen to it here).

Jim Moorheads book is entitled The Instant Survivor – Right Ways to Respond When Things Go Wrong. In the book it goes through a 4-step system for “conquering professional and personal crises”. The description of the book at Amazon is:

This is a crisis-management handbook that shows readers the four steps to going from head-in-the sand denial to head-held-high success. Jim Moorhead reveals the methods top companies use to tackle crises. In an energetic, upbeat style – laced with compassion and practicality – he explains how executives audit their businesses and fix problems before they mushroom into messes. When crises do occur, a crisis management team talks through the company’s business and legal goals, analyzes the people and resources to deploy and the allies and experts to call upon, and debates the options before agreeing on a strategy. Whether the problem is downsizing, divorce, disability, or debt, Jim Moorhead, a seasoned trial attorney and crisis adviser,outlines four action steps to help any individual prevent and tackle life’s hard and soft crises in an organization:

• STAY FROSTY: Remain calm and focused when a crisis begins
• SECURE SUPPORT: Tap into your network of personal and professional contacts
• STAND TALL: Take full charge of your response
• SAVE YOUR FUTURE: Prepare for post-crisis success

As he explains his steps to overcoming disasters and predicaments, Moorhead selects from firsthand accounts and anecdotes amassed during thirty years of experience in law, politics, and consultancy to inspire and encourage readers. These intriguing stories – of people overcoming everything from disease, debt, and job loss to car bombings and wrongful imprisonment – engage readers as they illustrate the author’s key points.

On Jim Moorhead’s Instant Survivor web-site you can subscribe to his mailing list and receive The Instant Survivor Handbook for free. I’ve gone ahead and done that and received the book. It is a 7-page handbook with step by step instructions for surviving a “current” crisis. It looks interesting and could be a very useful tool for someone when things are going wrong.

I would recommend listening to the Bobblehead Dad podcast to start with, then if it sounds like something that interests you or could serve you, then sign up to Jim Moorhead’s mailing list to get the free handbook (you can always unsubscribe after you get the free ebook). After that, if you still want to know more, go ahead and buy The Instant Survivor Book.

Although it is relatively easy to start a blog, one of the areas that you need to focus on, but that can easily be neglected, is to have a plan for your blog.

Courtney Chowning over at Biblical Blogging has created a few great tools to help you create a Bible based blog. They include a workbook on creating a plan for your blog and also some blog planning pages.

Tomorrow I am planning to spend the day at the Alberta Children’s Hospital as my eldest son is due to go in for surgery to replace his Cecostomy tube. I’ve downloaded both of these free workbooks to my iPod and plan to go through them for the projects I am currently developing.

Although the worksheets are written for blogs, they will also translate well for podcasting. The projects that I am currently developing are podcast related, so this should help me wrap my head around them and get a good plan in place…

No, really, all the time, otherwise “the Devil scores points” …

As Christians things are not “hard”, they are “challenging”.

When you are asked how you are doing things should always we great, blessed, fantastic, good, or at the very worst, fine …

So how about you, when you get asked how you are doing do you give the real answer, or the “right” answer?

In regards to both scriptures in Colossians about children obeying your parents and fathers not embittering your children. How do either of the scriptures apply to a father/parent that has not raised you. Has been in and out of your life, I am now grown, he wants the respect a father should get but does not want to do things a father does. I have no grudges of the past but things that are going on now are very relevant to the present state of our relationship.

The scriptures that I referred to in the original article were Colossians 3:20-21;

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

Based on what I have heard from other Christians I recommended the book Boundaries, by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend. The books subtitle is “When to Say YES, When to Say NO, To Take Control of Your Life”.

I also linked to an article entitled “How do we honour and abusive parent?“. Although the absent father was not “abusive”, I wondered if some of the issues would be the same.

How Do You Think the Reader Should Honour Their Absent Father?

I felt like my answer was inadequate to fully answer the depth of  the question I was asked.

I would love to open up the comments for other people’s thoughts on the readers question and how they should honour their absent father who is now back in their life…

According to Paul if we don’t have love, we have nothing of value.

One verse that is especially challenging is 1 Corinthians 13:5 which states:

… (love) keeps no record of wrongs. (NIV)

Do we live up to that?

Can we live up to that?

If we forget all of the wrongs people do to us, as God does for us through Jesus Christ, how will that transform our relationships with others? How could that transform relationships between nations?

From Paul’s description we can read that love is completely selfless. It is not something that we do to benefit ourselves, but rather is it something that costs us for the benefit of others.

We all fall short of this description of true love, no matter how hard we try, but that doesn’t mean we stop trying…

… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. (Romans 2:23-24 NIV)

Loving unconditionally, forgiving others, and forgetting other’s wrongs against us is not easy in our own strength. So instead of trying to do it ourselves…

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV)

How do you approach your relationships? Are you ready to throw out your relationship score card?

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Col 3:20 NIV

Lately I have been challenged by the verse that follows which says:

Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Col 3:21 NIV

This is a challenging statement and it is telling that it comes immediately after telling the children to obey their parents.

As parents we have a huge responsibility for our children

God wants us to teach our children to love Him and His truth.

We need to teach our children that they can talk to God through prayer and can have a personal relationship with Him.

We are to teach them contentment with what God provides and excitement for what God has planned.

We also need to teach them that they have value in God’s eyes and that God has a plan and a purpose for their life.

While teaching and discipling our children in the way of the Lord we must also not embitter them.

What can embitter our children?

• Destructive criticism
• Overprotection
• Showing favouritism
• Not teaching and showing them that they have value
• Setting unrealistic goals
• Not showing affection
• Not meeting their needs
• Not having standards or boundaries
• Showing indifference or neglecting them
• Disciplining out of anger and not love

If I am honest with myself I can admit that I stuff up, a lot, as a parent. I look at what it takes to raise children and I can feel overwhelmed sometimes by the enormity of it all. They aren’t tasks or projects, they are people. They are created in the image of God, a God who has a plan and a purpose for their lives, and a God who trusted them with me as their Dad!

As parents we can always get better at what God has called us to do. We can read books, compare notes with other parents, and try harder. We can also pray.

God can give us grace and wisdom if we ask for it. This, above all other things, gives me hope for my children’s future…

Some more reading about Colossians 3:21:

• God’s Word for Parents- Union Church
• Precept Austin – Col. 3:21

Don’t get me wrong, I know that God has called me to be a missions communicator to tell others about what God is doing in Youth With A Mission around the world. I am not questioning God’s call on my life, I love what I am doing and feel very blessed to be able to do it. The team I work with is great, even though they are on the other side of the world.

Despite knowing God’s call on my life I’m still struggling. One of the articles that I read recently had the following quote in it that really spoke to me:

The real battle is when the lie comes: “There is no point to what you are doing, you are not making a difference”

The audio recording that you can listen to above probably describes better what I’m thinking than my writing does. In talking with others both inside and outside of YWAM I am not the only one involved in communications feeling like this.

Your prayers for renewed vision and passion would be appreciated…

Related Links:

• What is My Job?
• The Importance of Communications Teams in YWAM
• Why YWAM Needs Communication Teams
• The Desk Missionary
• Oh Yes, we struggle! Confession #2: What’s the point?
• Pastors on ‘Burnout:’ We Forget We’re Human

5. Facebook, Twitter and Students…

With social media, especially Facebook and Twitter, so pervasive in the lives of people it’s important that we look at what kind of affect it has on students. The Discipleship Training School (DTS), and other second level schools in Youth With A Mission (YWAM) have previously been completely immersive experiences mainly because of the difficulty and cost of communication. Read the full article…

4. Lego, Why do you Spurn Canada?

Caleb spent the better part of two years saving up to buy himself a Lego Cargo Train Set. When he finally went to purchase the set we found that the set was almost $100 more in Canada than to purchase it in the USA.

In the end Caleb purchased the train set in the USA and had a friend pick it up for him. Read the full article…

3. Debt and Missions – A Toxic Mix

This is one topic that I have gotten more passionate about as I have spent time in missions. I have seen people removed from the missions field or prevented from entering the field because of personal debt.

As a missions agency we need to be asking ourselves what are we doing about this? Not only personal debt, but also what are we doing about ministry debt? Read the full article…

Teaching Personal Finance and Financial Stewardship in Missions

Although not in the top five blog posts this article was my follow up article to my debt and missions article.

In the article I explore a few different ways that we can help the staff and students in Youth With A Mission deal with their personal debt. Two options I look at are Dave Ramsey’s Generation Change and Lazarus at the Gate. Read the full article…

2. Using What You Know in Missions

Something that frustrates me is when missionaries abandon the skills and knowledge that they have developed before entering missions. Often these things are God given talents that are intended for use in God’s Kingdom. Often though because they don’t fit into the mould of a “young missionary” the talents are dismissed as being not “spiritual” enough for the missions field. What a travesty. Read the full article…

1. Explaining Idiots to our Kids – The Vancouver Riots

The number one article is the one that surprised me most.

Caleb came home from school talking about the riots that had occurred in Vancouver after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins. He was asking why people would do that and I tried to explain to him why, and also tried to get some advice from others about what causes people to act like that. Read the full article…

#FunFactAboutMe my life long goal is to become a missionary in Africa.

or maybe something like…

#ithink, being a christian missionary would be a great job!

or…

#20FactsAboutMe 17.) when I’m 18 I wanna do Christian missionary and go to Uganda and china and help build schools

or…

Dear sweet baby jesus, if you get me through this shift today I’ll become a missionary.

Okay, maybe that last one was a joke, but you catch my drift…

Are Christian Missions Groups Active on Social Media?

The question though is are Christian Missions groups using social media to connect with people who are expressing an interest in missions?

Are you active in social media?

Is your group or agency active in social media?

I’m not talking about broadcasting your message using social media and treating it like any other traditional marketing media. What I’m talking about is actually connecting personally with people who are interested in pursuing missions.

You need to listen online, not just talk.

If are are not using social media to connect with people interested in Christian Missions then you are missing out on a potentially huge way to connect with people who are interested in missions and may or may not have a plan on how to get there…

Gary Vaynerchuk has made his mark in business largely through the use of social media. He has leveraged the web and social media to connect with potential customers in ways that have never been possible before. I recommended his book Crush It - Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion on the latest YWAM Podcast after listening to it and being inspired to try to put into action with my role in missions.

Gary did a keynote speech at a recent convention where he talks about how he uses social media and why it works. It is probably the first YouTube video that is over an hour that I have ever actually sat through, and is well worth the time. Here it is:

(be aware though that Gary uses “colourful” language at points in the video)

The new book that he refers to in his keynote is The Thank You Economy. As I write this I currently have the audio version on hold at the library and am eagerly waiting for it to become available. If it’s anything like Crush It, I know I won’t be disappointed.

So if you took the time to watch the video, and I would highly recommend that you do, then how are you going to connect to potential new missionaries? Are you going to use these ideas, or let them slip by, along with the many new potential new missionaries that are out there looking for a  way to connect with what God is doing, and how they can be a part…

(image by Nathan Colquhoun)

Among the many Christian movies made though there are some that I think stand out as pretty good movies that I always enjoy watching.

Favourite Adult Christian Movies

The first “Christian” movie that I saw is still one of my favourites, and that is “The Ride“, produced by the Billy Graham Foundation.

Unfortunately the trailer looks kind of cheesy, but it’s a fun movie with some great bull riding scenes.

Another more recent movie that Tamara I and both enjoyed is Fireproof by Providence Films.

Good movie, with a great message.

Favourite Kid’s Christian Movie

Children’s movies are one area that you can often find high quality content in. Two of our family favourite Christian kid’s movie series are the Veggie Tales movies (yes, I finally caved and even enjoy them myself) and the Hermie the Common Caterpillar series.

My favourite Veggie Tales movie is The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. Lots of fun and a very catchy tune to go with it…

Max Lucado does a great kid’s book series that has been made into a video series called Hermie & Friends. The first book and movie is Hermie A Common Caterpillar.

Both of those series are great stories for kids, and also teach good messages for the kids to learn.

Christian Movie I Want to See Next

The next Christian movie that I want to see is also by Providence Films and is their latest movie, Courageous.

What are your favourite Christian movies? What movies would you recommend for my wife and I, or for our kids?