vision casting that makes you want to paint your face blue

vision casting is essential for any leader of any movement.

vision casters have this crazy burning passion for the world to be different and they actually have a clear picture of how the world could be and should be... and they paint this picture for others to see & invite them to be a part of.

every time i watch Braveheart i am blown away by the vision casting skill of William Wallace. there are tons of examples throughout the movie, but here's a brief one:

every single time i hear his vision casting speeches like this one it makes me wanna stand up, pump my fist, & sign up to go fight in the Scottish army.

and i'm not even Scottish.

but i'm like "Give me a sword and some blue face paint and let's go!"

that's what a powerful vision caster can do. they can spark something in the hearts of people. they can paint a picture of a preferred reality that's so clear it compels people to rise up for the cause.

i want to be a vision caster half as good as William Wallace.

call me an idealist

people call me an idealist.

it's a negative statement (kind of like too passionate) and sometimes gets lumped with other words to describe me like naive.

but go ahead and call me an idealist. i take it as a compliment.
i think idealism is only a negative if it is just talk. no action with it. because talk is cheap.

i agree with Bono:
“Idealism detached from action is just a dream. But idealism allied with pragmatism, with rolling up your sleeves and making the world bend a bit, is very strong, very real, and very present.”

yep. i'm an idealistic pragmatic. i've been called both in a negative tone, but that's OK with me. i want to spend my life rolling up my sleeves and making the world bend a bit.

i want to spend my life seeing things in the world that bother me (should bother all of us) and be the voice that says "we do not have to stand for this."

and if that's idealistic then so be it.

we'll see what has happened 3 generations from now. then we can judge whether or not i was just a naive idealist.

i believe we can change the world. i believe we do not have to stand for this.

pas-sion

Pas-sion. noun. [pash-uhn] - "any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling"

i've been accused of being too passionate. i've been accused of having too much of this thing we call passion.

i take that as a compliment.

but sometimes this compliment meant as a negative can play tricks on me in the back of my mind and it could possibly cause me to hold back or play down my passion. i can think in my head "maybe i'm being too passionate?"

no more of that for me though. i'm gonna let it flow. i refuse to suppress the passion in me. i'm going to let it run wild.

because i believe that people HAVE to see your passion. they have to see it loud and clear. it can't be held back. so i don't wanna hold it back.

because...

People respond to passion. it demands a response from them. it may freak them out a little, but hopefully it inspires some similar passion in them.

People follow passion. i won't and i imagine no one will follow a "passionless" leader. not for long anyway. why would you?

People are pumped by passion. i can't think of many things that pump me up more than watching/listening to someone else who is passionate.

People NEED to see your passion. hopefully this should be obvious from the 3 above. but peeps need YOU to show your passion. don't hide it.

other people feed on your passion. let it out.

renown bag (thanks Natalie)

when you have written on a website for over 4 years now that you named renown you tend to notice when the word "renown" comes up other places. (which just for the record isn't a whole lot.)

but maybe other people start to notice for you too?
i have this awesome friend Natalie and today she gave me this awesome gift!

it's a little carrier bag. she said she got it for me because it says "renown".

well, she volunteered at Passion 2012 and grabbed this bag for me there.

but (probably) little does she know that Louie and the Passion gang are the ones who even taught me what "renown" is and that it's the only thing that matters.
(probably) Little does she know that it was the ethos of the Passion movement that was a catalytic and life changing movement in my life's extremely formative college-ish years & is why i now call this blog "renown".

thanks for thinking of me, Natalie. the gift came to me through a delivery girl (my wife) so since i didn't get to tell you thanks in person, so... Thanks, Natalie!

the bag actually has the full "passion version" (2 versions mixed) of Isaiah 26:8 printed around the bag - "Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your truth, we wait eagerly for you; for YOUR NAME AND YOUR RENOWN ARE THE DESIRE OF OUR SOULS."

that was the founding deal for Passion. that little idea changed my life. still is...

how can YOU be the change? (Keira)

How can YOU be the change?

i think that's a phrase my kid(s) are going to get SICK of hearing me say. i'm thinking a lot more about parenting these days... since i am one of those now. Crystal and i are both thinking a lot more about it. we're talking about it all the time -- what kind of parents we want to be, what kinds of things we want to do for our kids, WHO we want them to be, etc...

and it's real now because Keira is here. so it's not just a nebulous idea.

but i think Keira will get sick of hearing me say to her "How can YOU be the change?"

let's say that she comes home from school & there is a kid that EVERYONE is making fun of/being mean to. the teacher didn't really seem to even care. Keira is bothered by it. i'm going to ask her - "How can YOU be the change that needs to happen?"

or maybe our neighbor has surgery and their yard is a wreck. Keira complains that it looks so ugly. "well, how can YOU be the change?"

and there are a million other examples.

EITHER:
she will get so sick of hearing me say this phrase that she will stop complaining about anything or talking about anything that isn't right in the world for fear that i will prod her to think about changing it...

OR:
she will change the world.

i hope it's the 2nd one.

and the below isn't all that related to the above but it's just a thought that i resonate with and agree with wholeheartedly. it's how i want us to parent Keira and any other kids God blesses us with...

“I want my children to grow up understanding that life with Jesus is more than just being nice, or trying not to cuss and get drunk because 'that is what good Christians do.' I want my children to be so compelled by the real Jesus that they are willing to stand with him, giving their lives to his revolution, not in order to be religious but because there is simply no more exhilarating way to live. I want my kids to see my wife and me as revolutionaries who subvert the dominant belief systems of the world, not out of religious obligation but in wholehearted response to the person of Jesus.” 

– Mike Erre (from Jesus of Suburbia)

YES! That's what i want!

push them from the very bottom of your soul

when you think of James Earl Jones you think of that AMAZING voice. right? that's a God-given GIFT of speaking right there. too bad i wasn't BORN with that.

but James Earl Jones wasn't born with it either. His family moved from a farm in Mississippi to Detroit when he was only 6. (thanks to Boyd Clark for this story, btw.) 
this move was pretty traumatic for him & it prompted a stuttering crisis for him. a BIG stuttering crisis.

he hardly spoke a word for 8 years!

did you catch that? from 6 to about 14 this kid hardly spoke! that's pretty hard core. probably not the kid who's at the top of your list of kids who will grow up to become great orators.

In his high school English class they all had an assignment to write an original poem and then present it in front of the class. BUT James Earl's stuttering was SO BAD that his teacher was going to let him SLIDE on the reciting it to the class part! i never had an English teacher like that :)

but the teacher also called him out a little saying that the poem was SO GOOD, he wondered if James really wrote it, or just copied it from somewhere?

here's what Jones wrote about that:

"My honor was at stake. Plagiarism was bad business. I had written every word of this poem myself... I was shaking as I stood up, cursing myself. I strained to get the words out, pushing from the bottom of my soul. I opened my mouth--and to my astonishment, the words flowed out smoothly, every one of them.

My classmates were amazed, not so much by the poem as by the performance."

it's hard to think of a more important lesson for a communicator or a leader that communicates to learn...

Make sure the words are yours.

    
Push them from the very bottom of your soul.

         
The performance will take care of itself.

summing up renown

i think if you had to sum up our whole existence
if you had to sum up this whole STORY in 1 word

it would be renown.

God wants glory - literally renown - for Himself. & on the flip side, we're only ever happy when we want it for Him too.

renown is not a Question of "if" but of "when" & "how".

i think the reason for the sky & trees & clouds & fish & bushes & mountains & oceans & galaxies & polar bears & stars & all that we see and experience is 1 renown.
that 1 renown is the whole reason for it all. it's the point.

for us to say "wow." & "Whoever made that must be flippin amazing."


so our stories (lives) exist for 1 renown too. that's the only reason we even have a story.

but, we also hijack our stories for our own "renown" and different "renowns".
   [& i use "renown" in quotations because it's not real. renown is literally unending fame & there's only 1 of those.]

"Renown" for our name.

for our company's name.

our team's name.

for our country - (wherever we may live).

but all of this "Steals" renown from the 1 ultimate renown that is the whole point of everything.

as if...

as if - because we can't ultimately "steal" renown (or else it wouldn't truly be renown), but we just trick ourselves into thinking we can steal some. but all we're really doing is robbing others (and ourselves) of joy, satisfaction, and the amazing, fulfilling lives we were meant to live.
that's all we're doing any time we direct anyone's attention away from the 1 renown that matters onto any other fake, wannabe "renown".

we're screwing people over.

because actually there is only 1 true renown. all other attempts don't live up. the fame ends at death... or 100 years after they're gone. OR (if you can call making it into the history books "renown") maybe it sticks for even 1,000 years or 2,000 years?  but then the clapping ends and the fame stops.
but the 1 real renown doesn't even slow down... it just gains momentum.

what is renown if we had to sum it up? it's God's glory & His Name. that's the epitome of renown.

we only even know what renown is because we understand it through God's fame. He's pretty much as famous as it gets.
should be a pic of God next to renown in the encyclopedia... just to clarify for everybody.

or at least on wikipedia. maybe one of you can help us out with that?

simple like a story

the gospel.

short and sweet.

simple like a story.

"Crack kids, track kids, hookers and robbers, The naked and hungry, mothers and fathers

Abuses, excuses, and guns in your hands, And I even welcome the arrogant man

I welcome you all to the biggest of feasts, A night of no shame, to pause and to breathe

This is a night of love's renovation, A feast I am sure that could change a whole nation

Me, I'm not such an excellent host, I am one who forgives but needs it the most

I found the liar, the killer of hearts, And I ran away with a new way to start

I journeyed a road where a bright man appeared

He looked into me, and my eyes filled with tears

My breath fast and short and my heart burning deep

He gave me new eyes and a new way to see

So come as you are,, as you are, as you are...

I still defiled His great love ways, I felt such a famine when I ran away

I missed the presence, The voice like a song, I was nasty and dirty, I knew I was wrong

But He ran to me like a dream like a Father, This love is not earthly this love must be other

He carried me home and threw me a party, A party so loud like the greatest love story

Oh my dear friends applaud now please, I've invited you here to announce YOU ARE FREE!

He takes your chains, busting you out of prison

Just open your heart, Let your heart come and listen

come as you are,, as you are, as you are...

Who could accept all your pounding and screaming

Your raging, your freaking, cussing, and beating

All while He holds you and always forgiving, This is the story of love and of living

Wipe off your tears and laugh just a little, Come break this bread, celebrate the Forgiver

Raise up a glass, a time to remember, Come break this bread, CELEBRATE THE FORGIVER!!!

(Charlie Hall, Hookers and Robbers)

no better way to start 2011

no better way to start off 2011 for me than watching Passion 2011 through their live link.

I guess being there would be better, but this is the next best thing to actually being there to experience it. i'm really thankful that Passion is gracious enough to let us all follow along via the streaming sessions for peeps like me who are too old now to be there.

crazy significant impact on my life in the college years... and still. very thankful. very nostalgic. full of awe for an amazing God who changed/is changing me.

tune in and watch the last few sessions of 2011 HERE.