Big vs. Small

Congratulations to the Durham Bulls who won the Triple A championship game last night. I attended the event here in OKC with a few friends of mine. I have to admit I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the small ballpark last night. At the same time there is nothing like walking into a Major League ballpark, it can take your breathe away.

Which would you prefer? A big environment that is larger than life or the smaller setting that seems to be much more personal.

Can we have the best of both worlds?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this one.

Be Jesus!

What does it take to be Jesus to others? Don't you think that is a good question to ask. Millions of hurting people walk the streets daily, including you and me. What is it that they need? More stuff, fame, perfect spouse, better job? I don't think so. Look around you, some of the people that are hurting most in the world seem to have all those things. What they need is someone to be Jesus in their lives! Below are a few ways we can be Christ to others, allowing him to use us to impact the lives of the people that need him the most.

Love-(Rom. 8:35-39) Love people! Loving people is never convenient, not always fun, and always takes effort on your part. But look at the example Jesus gave to us, he laid his life down because of his love for us.

Encouragement-(1 Thess.5:11) Build others up! There are plenty of things and people in this life that will tear you down. Doesn't it feel good when someone encourages you and believes in you. Encourage and believe in others.

Be Real-(John 4:1-26) When people need to hear the truth, give them the truth in love. If you practice Love and Encouragement they will respect you when you are Real with them.

Love, Encourage, and Be Real. Be Christ!

Stay in the Game!

Wow, it always seems like some key player or team member gets injured in the length of a sports season. Last year it was Tom Brady of the New England Patriots. This year we have already witnessed Heisman Trophy Winner, Sam Bradford, fall to injury. And in baseball with 4 weeks to go in the season and in a pennant race, the two key leaders for the Texas Rangers go down (Michael Young and Josh Hamilton).

These seemingly tragic blows leave their respective teams scrambling to stay focused and shifting personnel around to make things work. And in the dugout or on the sideline you see these ambassadors of the game encouraging their teammates and trying to instill any leadership they can to help the team win. All the while on the inside they only desire to be on the field, leading by example.

Question: How good is a leader that is not in the game? How much impact can they really make?

In the real world, coaches aren’t the ones keeping us out of our game. No, most of the time we pull ourselves out. Maybe it is self-perception, bad decisions, or just a bad attitude. The bottom line is you create your own playing time.

Stay on the field, your team needs you!

The Fever

As you can see I kind of like baseball. Okay, I love baseball. And as you can imagine with having two boys (6 and 9) I couldn't wait until the day they found interest in the great game. In their life time they have probably been to 5 or so Ranger games and several Triple A games. Once my oldest was even given a bat by one of the players. It was an incredibly cool moment that will mean a lot to him one day, but at the time it was more like, "can we get some ice cream now". I think I was more pumped about it than him.

But just a few weeks ago the first baseman for the Rangers, Chris Davis, was playing in OKC and we got an opportunity to go to the game. Chris was incredibly nice to our family, signing cards, a mini bat, and even a ball. Just after that the left fielder tossed a ball to us. It was a really great experience. The boys were both excited about the trip to the park.

Since that day they are wanting to collect baseball cards, playing a baseball video game and even wanting to watch ballgames with me.

They have officially caught the Fever! That gives me such a great feeling as a father.

I was talking to a great friend of mine, Brian Cromer, and he suggested I write this post after I told him this story. He also mentioned the similarities of people catching the fever of being a follower of Christ.

What made your relationship with God spark? When did you get it?

A Bit of a Rant

Let me just say this. I do not typically rant about much of anything. But I have a few things I would like to throw out there for you to think about.

Last week my wife and I were in Tulsa, OK. We don't spend a lot of time there and just to be honest it is not my favorite place to visit. As we were trying to get back to Oklahoma City we got caught up in a detour and took us on a wild goose chase. It reminded me of why it is not my favorite place to visit. Although Tulsa is the place where two of my favorite people in the world reside, Matt and Lindsay Nelson. If you are in the area and are looking for a church you should check them out @ http://citychurchtulsa.com/.

Question: Which city in America has the best roads?

Also, why is it that as humans we are so full of excuses? In a past blog I talked a lot about personal ownership. Excuses are the exact opposite.

Challenge: Take responsibility for something that may or may not have been your fault this week. This is a great way to learn personal ownership.

Remember, Jesus took personal ownership over all of your mistakes and he didn't even say "but I didn't do it, she did".

Personal Ownership

You are who you are because you are who you are! As I am typing this statement it seems very awkward. But the reality is that it is so true. So many times in life we try to blame our failures and short comings on others by pointing the finger and having someone to be angry with. One of the biggest life lessons God has taught me is personal ownership. Take ownership for your faults, weaknesses and failures.

The next time you are upset with someone, stop and consider what part you played in the situation.

Give me some feedback.

Resilience Again

As you know I am a huge baseball fan and even a bigger follower of Christ. In some of my past blogs I have written about the importance and necessity in life for resilience. That is, if you ever really want to amount to anything it is very important. Because the bottom line in life is that we are going to fail, have hard times and struggles. The measure of greatness is the ability to bounce back or be resilient.

I was proud of the Rangers tonight. Last night they took a crushing blow from a team they have proven they can beat, as a matter of fact they lost the game needing only one strike for the victory. The Red Sox made an incredible come back and stole the game from them as sometimes happens in baseball. For a moment the season seemed to be over. But after the game Michael Young (third baseman) was asked "is it hard to bounce back from a game like this?", he responds "no, it's easy". It's easy because Michael knows what it means to be resilient. That when you get knocked down the only option you have is to get back up. Tonight they showed the ability to not struggle in defeat will set you in motion for victory. And of course they were triumphant!

So next time you fall down, get up! Use that God given ability to bounce back in even the most extreme disappointment. Be Resilient!

Stop the Madness!

Can someone please stop the madness? Who would have ever thought going to wal-mart to pick up school supplies for your kiddos could be so crazy. It seemed as though every item we needed was sold out. I guess it really does pay to go early. I never dreamed I would be so desperate to find jumbo glue sticks and 8 pack wide markers. Thank God we found all that we need and only have to make one more short trip to finish things up. Ultimately, the only thing that really matters is that we got really sweet back packs for the boys (superman and spiderman). I came away with a nice new computer bag and lindsey got a few pictures and decorations for her classroom this year.

Needless to say, everyone came home happy!

Do you ever feel like saying, Stop the Madness? It is a phrase I use when something that seems so easy is made to be difficult. Give me some feedback and if you haven't already sign up to follow my blog.

Jesus, the Twitter King!

Tonight I read the story of Jesus calling the disciples to follow him (Luke 5). In the story he tells peter that he will be a fisher of men and then the bible says they all followed him. That thought just made me stop and think, Jesus is the Twitter King! I know it is a little extreme but the fact is that he followed God the Father unconditionally and called others to follow him. Isn't that what twitter or any other sort of social media is all about.

If you tweet or use twitter you know of a tool that makes it much easier, called tweet deck. Tweet deck organizes your tweets and helps you see when things are directly to you, you are mentioned by another, and the entire river of thoughts from those you are following. God has given us a tweet deck to house our relationship with him called spiritual discipline. I think the categories on this deck would be personal prayer, bible study and healthy relationships.

• Personal Prayer- Who are you Following? It you never hear from the one you are so called "following" are you really following them?
• Bible Study- The river of information that gives us direction and gives us a foundation in which to stand on.
• Healthy Relationships- God uses people to give Direct Messages to you!

How does your Tweet Deck look? Keep your eye on these categories!

Great Teams Lose?

Why do great teams lose? Have you ever thought about that? If teams are so great, why do we need wins and losses? Shouldn't great teams win all the time? I ask this question because my favorite team can beat the good teams but struggles with others. Is it momentum, passion, the challenge or what?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

The Day I Met My Hero!

Wow, this past weekend was one of the most incredible few days of my life! On Saturday I watched my childhood hero (Ruben Sierra) get inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. While that may not mean much to you, it means the world to me. For me during a rough childhood Ruben ,along with the Rangers, gave me a sense of hope. Baseball was always my outlet to dream and laid a foundation of a never quit attitude. I had to have that attitude because my team never seemed to win, lol.

As I listened to Ruben give his speech, I sensed such humility, thankfulness, and pride. While he was speaking I realized how emotional this event was for me. I drifted back to my early childhood and remembered the hard times. Times of defeat, of feeling there really wasn't much to live for. But through it all God was faithful.

On the drive home I contemplated all these thoughts and tried to focus on the talk I was to give about my childhood the next morning at church. I was going to share with NORTHchurch, give them a taste of where I have been and the heroes that helped pull me through everything.

There have been a lot of people have impact on my life, but three really stood out to me. Roy, guy that took me to church when no one else would, Uncle Phil, taught me to dream and is responsible for my love of baseball, and my dad and step mom, who gave me an example of normal life and rising above adversity.

Little did I know, my hero Roy, who I hadn't seen in over 20yrs was actually Rod. And Rod was sitting in church when I began to share my story on Sunday morning. When it was brought to my attention, I was overwhelmed. I was given the opportunity to say thank you! I met my long lost hero.

This weekend was a great reminder of who I am and where I have come from. God is amazing!

Question: Who is your hero? What does it mean to be a hero?

Refuse to Lose

I refuse to lose! Regardless of life circumstances, challenges ahead or anything else that may stand in my way, I refuse to lose!

Life seems to be a series of wins and loses, doesn't it? It is true that you win some and lose some. However some people take the L's harder than others. As important as self-perception is I think there is an attribute that is just as or possibly more important to our success in life. That attribute is resilience. Resilience is the ability to bounce back and move forward in the midst of adversity and it gives you the ability to refuse to lose!

When times are tough we should be too!

What are your thoughts?

The Mighty Rangers

So I have been talking about self perception and how it impacts us. I am a huge Texas Rangers baseball fan. It all started growing up in Arlington, TX and watching Ruben Sierra hit homers and attending Nolan Ryan's 7th Hitter. From there I was hooked. My Rangers have really only had 3 successful playoff seasons in the history of the club (est. 1972) and haven't made a lot of noise in the past 10 years. Needless to say there hasn't been a lot of success.

But over the past year or so they have changed the perception. They changed leadership, established a game plan, brought in lots of young talent and reshaped a struggling franchise in a very short period.

The question is why wasn't this done years ago?

I think sometimes it is hard for us to commit to the little things that will set the course of our futures. The little things that make such a huge difference not only take big commitment, it takes perseverance.

What do you think? Who is your favorite team?

Go Rangers!

Perception is Everything!

Do you believe, you are what you think? Pretty crazy idea huh. That the way you perceive yourself actually has an impact on your daily life. The truth is your perception determines who you are as a person. I have a bad habit of making fun of myself and cracking jokes when I make an honest mistake but if I am not careful it can throw me into a whirlwind of defeat. God created me to succeed and even in defeat I am learning.

How do you perceive yourself?

Social Media

For awhile now I have been "against" blogging, twitter, facebook, etc... This past week I had a revelation of the value of social media. Someone out there may actually care about what I have to say, and may just find value in the things I am learning. So here it is I am going to do my best to use technology to impact others. And maybe it will help someone out along the way.

If you get a chance follow me on twitter.com @clintsmithxp. I will be sharing leadership thoughts, life lessons and sharing things about my blog.

Question: How has social media impacted your life?

Why Blog?

Well here I am writing a blog. It doesn't really seem like something I would do but I feel like I am at an interesting point in my life right now. I am a thirty-one year old pastor with a wife and two children and I feel that I am coming into a deeper understanding of who I am and who those around me are. I would like to share that with anyone that would care to read about it.

So what am I learning? I love playing guitar and have played since I was thirteen, but there was about a six year period of time when I didn't play at all. When I returned to play I really knew nothing. Of course I knew the chords and all that but everything else was gone. So I began to play and quickly the rust was gone and everything seemed simple to me. The patterns, chord progression, music theory, etc... I am in know way a great musician but it was amazing how much understanding came to me. I think leadership and life are very similar to this example. Just when you think you have it all figured out, things seem to stall out, you realize you know nothing, growth happens, and a whole new world is open to you. So what is the take away. In order be successful in life I must know myself and I must know those around me.

Something to think about.