Category Archives: Links

By Request: A Follow Friday Extravaganza

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3242828279 970541054d m By Request: A Follow Friday ExtravaganzaToday’s post is a special edition “Follow Friday Extravaganza” requested by Aaron.  

I follow every one of these blogs and tweeters, and, though I may not always agree with everything that’s written or how it’s presented, they always encourage, challenge, and inspire me.  I think they’ll do the same for you.

There are LOTS of great blogs and tweeters out there.  If you’ve found other killer blogs or tweeters, why not leave a recommendation in the comments?

The Blogs

Michael Hyatt

Michael’s Chairman of the Board at Thomas Nelson Publishers and writes consistently about intentional leadership.  In a word, his posts are amazing.

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2011 Week 38 in Review – Quotes and Articles

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386175360 76cfee5662 m 2011 Week 38 in Review Quotes and Articles

The journey to success is a road of sequential failure separated by intermittent success and multiple attempts.  That’s OK. If we’re not attempting and failing, we’re not stretching and growing. There may be seasons of success and seasons of failure. That’s OK, too. Everything has its season (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

So, looking back over your week,

  • Are you proud of this week?
  • How well did you live by your priorities?
  • Did you invest your life in others?
  • What one thing could have been better?
  • What one thing are you proud of?
  • What would you like to do differently?
  • What will you do differently?

The Quotes:

  • If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”- Antoine de Sainte-Exupery (1900-1944); aviator, writer (via Mark Entzminger)
  • I’m reminding myself: What I do every day matters more than what I do once in a while. – @gretchenrubin
  • If you’re a leader, look to implement the best idea…not just the one that’s yours. – @benreed
  • Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. —Will Rogers (via @bufferapp)
  • In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do; it is not really the time but the will that is lacking. Sir John Lubbock (via @adamgrave1)
  • The most comfortable activities are rarely the most productive. – @entreleadership (via @andywhiz)
  • “A leader leads by example, not by force.” ~Sun Tzu (via @AineBelton) Continue reading →

Did People Think You Were Phoning it In?

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4426921 72ac8a506c m Did People Think You Were Phoning it In?One of the worst things you can do for your self-image and for your relationships is to phone it in.  It’ll just suck the life and passion out of you and tells others that you don’t care about them.  It can permanently damage your relationships and your reputation.

I don’t want to phone it in as a blogger, as a husband and father, as a spiritual leader, or as a business person.  I want to give my very best all the time because you deserve the best.  So I have to be present (not distracted) when I’m with people, deliver on my promises, and be intentional about investing my life in those around me.

I’m sure that you’re sometimes in a similar situation.  Think about this week – were there some times that you were just phoning it in?  How about times when you were giving your all but people thought you were phoning it in because you didn’t manage their expectations?

I think you’ll find some great wisdom in the articles this week that will help you on your path to delivering your best and letting people know just that.  But first, some most excellent quotes from my most excellent friends on Twitter and Facebook.

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The Quotes

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August in Review – Quotes & Popular Posts

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In the past month I’ve made several changes to this blog and to how I approach my online relationships.  First, I’m more intentional about connecting with great people and sharing great content.  Second, I’ve shifted my focus slightly to the things I think you’re interested in: growing as a leader, living a successful, meaningful, balanced life, and (of course) faith.

One of the things that I’ve learned is that I’m surrounded by smart, insightful people who are generous with what they know, so I started collecting quotes from Twitter and sharing them (here and here).  I’d love to hear more of your insights as well as how you’re applying them in “real life.”

Top Five Posts for August, 2011

  1. How to Improve Your Relationship With God
  2. Do This to Bypass Failure
  3. Follow Friday Tweeters + Interesting Blogs
  4. The Week in Review – Great Quotes & Articles
  5. The Week In Review – Quotes & Tools

Surveying the list I have noticed a couple of things.  First, the most popular post is over two years old, written in July of 2009.  Second, three of the top five were essentially written by you.  I think that speaks volumes to what all of you add in value to the internet.  Thanks, again, for sharing.

What do you think?

Which of the quotes is your favorite (you’ll have to click the links to get to the quotes)?
How do you plan to bring that quote to life? 

August in Review Quotes & Popular Posts

The Week in Review – Quotes and Tools

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One of the great things about meeting new people is that I get to learn and grow.  Over the last week I’ve found a number of great quotes that I’d like to share with you.  I’ve retweeted some of them and others I haven’t (gotta keep it interesting, you know).

I thought I’d also join the bandwagon of people telling you which tools they use.  I’m certainly not trying to tell you that mine are the best. But I like them and I’d like to share some love with the developers.

The Quotes:

  • Stripped of all its trappings, leadership is the courage to do the right thing.
    via Twitter / @LeadershipNow
  • Before God we are all equally wise – and equally foolish. – Albert Einstein #tcot #quote
    via Twitter / @johnsykes1035
  • Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither. C. S. Lewis
    via Twitter / @LifeVerse
  • Its not the amount [sic] of hours you have per day that matters, its what you do with your hours that matters. Remove your distractions & win!
    via Twitter / @DBlakeSmith
  • Faith is putting all your eggs in God’s basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch.  ~Carroll
    via Twitter / @revtrev
  • A rich sense of confidence comes from three kinds of beliefs: confidence in self, trust in others, and faith in God.
    Tim Sanders in Today We Are Rich (affiliate link)
  • Somebody can promote you to a leadership position but you have to earn the right to truly lead.
    via Twitter / @LeadToday
  • Wise leaders create an environment where advisors are encouraged to give their input.
    via Twitter / @BarryWerner

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The Week in Review – Great Quotes & Articles

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Looking over the last week,  I’ve come across some great quotes on Twitter and some excellent articles. Here’s just a sampling of what has tickled my funny bone, made me think deeply about how I’m living, or that I think you might find interesting.

If you have a great quote or article that you’d like to make sure I see, send it to @bdentzy on Twitter.  Of course, no guarantees – there’s a lot of great stuff out there.  But it doesn’t hurt your chances.

The Quotes

The Articles

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Follow Friday Retweeters + Interesting Blogs

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14bdbe7da4594f8aa9f81d1ba390e06a 7 150x150 Follow Friday Retweeters + Interesting BlogsThe world is full of interesting people.  Here are a few people you might want to check out and some interesting blogs from this week.  Check them out, keep what’s good, and let’s all make the world a better place.

Retweeters!

I’d like to say “thanks” to some people who thought I was interesting enough to retweet on Twitter. I appreciate the love!

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Youth Ministry Resources

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Aaron Shaver (@shaversrazor) is a good friend of mine who has been a guest blogger here and at Andy in Progress.  I’ve known Aaron for years since we worked together at a Chick-fil-A when he was in high school and have been involved in ministry with him for several years at Springhouse Worship & Arts Center.

Aaron is a youth ministry guru who has not only been a youth pastor himself, but also a youth pastor’s helper.  He speaks with teens, helps other youth pastors develop and communicate vision, builds relationships, and provides youth ministry resources to them both in person and through his website, ShaversRazor.com.  I’m talking resources, not just youth ministry games.

As we enter 2011, Aaron is sharing his vision for where God is taking him and his ministry to other youth ministers and youth ministries.  Check Aaron’s video about where God is taking him in 2011.  Stop by Shaver’s Razor on the web or on Facebook.  And pray about how God might have you be involved in what God is doing in and through Aaron and his ministry.

YouTube – Vision Cast SHAVER’S RAZOR 12-15-10.mov.

Youth Ministry Resources

Can Internet TV Improve Productivity?

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In a recent infographic, Clicker reports that not only are some people watching internet TV while they should be working but that it affects productivity.  While that’s not surprising, it certainly surprised me that their research shows that it actually increases productivity.

Now, first, I have to say that I’m concerned about ethical integrity.  I think that it’s important to give our very best in all that we do (Ecclesiastes 9:10).  And I absolutely wonder what watching TV on the internet while at work says about our professional integrity, much less our personal integrity.

But I do have to wonder about the results – increased productivity.  I wonder why people might be more productive at work if they watch TV on the internet.  Can it be that internet TV can increase workflow productivity?  Or that maybe our productivity measurement is skewing the results?

I have my theory on the “why” – that people find ways to increase their own productivity so that they have the time to watch internet TV – even though that creates an issue of personal integrity.  But this does beg the question – can allowing internet TV at work be one of our ways to improve worker productivity?

What do you think?  And why do you think that?

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WordPress for Our Church’s Website

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Springhouse 282x300 Wordpress for Our Churchs WebsiteWell, it’s been a busy few weeks.  In addition to being a new dad and working full time, I’ve been helping get our church’s new website up and running.  We decided to switch from a custom hosting option to using WordPress for our church’s website – SpringhouseSmyrna.com.

As many of you know, WordPress is a killer system for running a blog.  But it’s such a powerful content management system, it can drive powerful websites, too.

So, for the past few weeks, I’ve been working alongside Scott Asher (@epecho) to migrate the content from the old website and set up the new site.  Even though it’s still a work in progress, I’m pretty excited because I think WordPress is such a great website infrastructure.

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