Wisdom and Beans and Hearing from God

I love what I do.  I get to engage in fascinating conversations with all sorts of interesting people.  Some of them even pay me decent money to make brutally honest observations and ask the kinds of stubbornly probing questions that used to get me fired.

Then there’s the coffee.  Given the nature of what I do, it makes no sense for me pay for office space just so I have a place to host face to face meetings.  There are simply too many great indie coffee shops around. Unique surroundings. Decidedly lacking in straight lines and generic corporate chic. Disarming. And convenient for the people with whom I'm meeting.  Most of my professional and social encounters take place in coffee shops.  As a result, I consume an inordinate amount of coffee.  Mind you, it's good coffee. Choice suppliers. Black. High test. No additives.  In my world, decaf is an abhorrent waste of good beans and usually a dreadful waste of the barista’s talent.

I had coffee this morning with friend who is a former corporate executive and is now an author, consultant, strategist and advisor to universities, corporations, and regional and national governmental leaders. Although he would probably argue the fact, he is one of the key innovators and influencers in his field.  Most people have never heard of him, precisely because he is a gifted network builder and an accomplished servant leader.

As we savored our dark roast, we talked about the waves of innovation that have swept over the world in recent decades, shifting the way in which people across the globe do almost everything.  We talked about the emerging demand for radically different skill sets in virtually every field,  and about the need to think and act quickly, intuitively, and creatively in order to keep up, especially in a business and economic environment that is changing at an exponential rate and with near blinding speed.

And we talked about the role that our faith perspectives have on our work.  On the details and processes.  

My friend is a person of influence. Anyone who meets him quickly discovers that he has a contagious passion for what he does.  He is also a person whose deep Christian faith and practical biblical wisdom form and inform everything about him.  He doesn’t hide his faith from those in his spheres of influence, but he doesn’t insist that they understand “Christianeze” either.  He speaks practical truth in their language and leads with action.  And value. And results. 

When I asked him about how he saw God influencing his professional activities, beyond principles and best practices, he smiled.  “Sometimes I see it in discovering principles and best practices,” he said. “And then there are times when I’m talking with a business owner or writing or searching for an application or a solution to a particular problem. In any case, I can have a sudden ‘Ah Hah’ moment.  The answer is there, and I know it…and I know that it’s God.” 

 

Is it possible that our friends, our families, our jobs and our communities could be blessed and transformed by the involvement and insight of people who are actually listening and hearing from the God who designed their world? 

Some key questions have come up in response to our Marketplace Kingdom podcast and conference call conversations… having to do with actually hearing from God today.  We’ve talked a lot about intimacy with God being the starting point for understanding how to live as Christians in the midst of our vocations and relationships in the broader community. While we acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, and believe that He wants to extend his lordship in realistic ways into all the various areas of our lives and activities, many still wonder what that looks like in the details of 2016.  

Does the God of the Universe really have a specific design for individual human lives?  Our lives?  How do we listen for His voice and the Holy Spirit’s direction as it pertains to our particular situations? 

 

With these questions in mind, we have released a bonus episode, “Seeing and Hearing from God”,   the keynote address from a Western Michigan regional prayer leaders’ conference involving participants from a wide variety of backgrounds and professions and representing some twenty six churches and nineteen different denominations.  This is a fast paced, entertaining and practical biblical teaching and it’s our gift to you.  We hope you’re encouraged.  And we hope you share it with a friend.  Then get together and talk about it.  Over coffee.  And tip your barista!

Download Here

A Three Minute Guide to Spreading Your Crazy Idea

You’ve got an idea. An innovation. An epiphany. It’s pretty amazing, if you do say so yourself. But when you try to explain it to a couple of your friends, they just stare blankly. Or worse, they immediately begin listing off all the reasons it won’t work.

So where did things go wrong?  Is your idea really that terrible? Was your explanation inadequate? Do you need to upgrade your class of friends? Assuming that you’ve already examined all three of these possibilities, there is a probable fourth issue. You began by trying to explain your idea.

You began by talking about it. You didn’t demonstrate it. As long as your epiphanous innovation languishes in the field of dreams, it goes nowhere. Even for you. Unless you’re ready to show what it looks like in action, you have no convincing skin in the game.   You can speak articulately and argue convincingly, but where’s the risk? Really.

Derek Sivers founded CD Baby by accident. He was simply an indie musician who wanted to market his catalog. He was chasing his passion and a few of his friends and fellow musicians asked if he could help them do the same. He didn’t set out to revolutionize the way people access artists and their music. He was just stubborn enough to believe that indie artists could connect directly with their potential audience. In the face of the music industry giants and their distribution monopoly, he had a crazy idea. Change the rules. It turned out to be a $22 million crazy idea.

Why did it work? He didn’t begin by talking about it. He began by doing it. And providing the opportunity for it to catch on.

You may have an astounding, game changing idea. How much do you really believe in it? How crazy are you? Crazy enough?