Jonathan Brink

Checking Your Perspective

Posted in Boy Scouts, Jonathan Brink, blessings, camping, perspective, photos, technology, thankfulness, viral video on October 30th, 2008 by Steve Bradley – 1 Comment

Above is a picture from this past weeked of my son, Will, standing in front of a tower he helped a bunch of Boy Scouts and younger Webelos build, using nothing but wood spars and rope.

It was a great weekend — aided in part by a post I read on Jonathan Brink’s blog just prior to heading out that helped me to put our life and times in perspective.

The title of the post is We Are That Spoiled — it has a link to a great, hilarious video you have to watch that really serves as a reality check…

It’s so easy to focus on negatives and what we don’t have, isn’t it? So easy to become disatisfied with what we do have, and thirst for the ever elusive something “more.” So easy to be blind to the beauty and blessings that are all around us, and that are ready to be seen if we’re willing to change our perspective…

So, while I was laying on the cold ground in 30 degree weather, I thanked God for:

  • my warm bed at home
  • the chance to travel out to the woods and enjoy nature with my son and others
  • a cell phone that takes pictures and sends them directly to my blog (how cool is that — even if the picture quality is somewhat spotty — see how easy the spoiled part can kick in?)
  • dedicated adult leaders who willingly give of their time and talents to create leadership and growth opportunities for young men like my son
  • cars that allow us to travel 100 miles in only a couple of hours
  • fall colors — beautiful reds, oranges, and golds
  • sleeping bags that enclose you like a mummy and keep you warm in 30 degree weather
  • the flannel pillow case my wife threw in at the last minute as I was packing
  • the way sunlight shimmers on the surface of a lake like thousands of diamonds, as the wind whips up little ripples and waves
  • hot coffee in the morning, and hot chocolate at night

Have you checked your perspective lately? What sorts of things do you find yourself focused on of late? What’s one thing you’re thankful for that you often overlook?

A Journey Worth the Taking

Posted in Auxano, Jonathan Brink, Thrive, communitas, community, journey, unreproducable on July 24th, 2008 by Steve Bradley – 2 Comments

Jonathan Brink’s post, An Unreproducable Journey, really resonates with me. It captures the tension I feel working with church leaders and faciltating my own small group.

On one level, I’d like to tell folks we can find a detailed mapquest printout of where God is leading us. But only God holds the future and knows the plans he has for us.

We can, however, create some useful travel plans based on past travels, including road maps, rules of the road, driving tips, reviews from other travelers, etc. That’s what Jonathan’s doing with Thrive, and what we’re doing at Auxano. These things are great, because we all need fixed points of reference, as well as some guidance and navigation along the way.

But I’d be lying if I didn’t warn folks that each trip is different, and unpredictable. Because God is the consummate ad libber.

It’s not that he’s unreliable. Certainly not. It’s just that he’s infintely creative. And he often has to take us on detours to break down trust in our own plans, so we can learn to trust in him instead, and see what he has in mind.

That’s what makes each journey unique — and unreproducable. Because the journey has as much to do with our hearts as it does with the destination. And only God knows both of those things well enough to lead us where we need to go.

Cool thing is that God gives us great companions for the journey, if we’re open to traveling with them. Others who can challenge and encourage, speaking truth into our lives from a perspective we don’t possess on our own…God with us, in communitas…

What about you? Are you on this kind of journey? If not, what’s holding you back?