Mike Vogel blogs here about stuff that may or may not be relevant and insightful.
Well, I cut my own hair last night around 11pm. I was a bit contemplative and thought that this might help to get things out…Boy was I right… I got a lot out, but it was mostly 6 or more inches of brown hair from my scalp. Sometimes its best just to leave things to the people who do it the best, but in the same breath…sometimes you just gotta have a go at things….
MV
I was making breakfast this morning in my kitchen…well it’s not really myyyy kitchen because I’m living in a guest house…but still I was cooking breakfast and realized that my kitchen is not set up to win. There are things about this kitchen that do not work well together for my desired result. It looks beautiful and it’s a great kitchen, but it does not meet the bar for function.
In order to use the microwave I have to pick it up, move it, and plug it in. Theres a lot of work involved in something that could be changed to produce better results. If I move some things around I can make the kitchen still look beautiful and I can make it function better.
I think sometimes our ministries and the things we look after can be like that. To the eye they look amazing and appear to work great, but really it’s what i like to call a front… just like a white boy from Montana who dresses in baggy clothes and talks like he’s from Detroit…it doesn’t mean he’s a gangster… it means he puts on a front… We should be 2-fold, what we do should look awesome, but not lack in its function - they go hand in hand like 2 star crossed lovers on a first date
MV
I was just thinking about the commercial with the tag ling “what’s in your wallet???” and I was thinking about this and something we hear in church leadership that goes like this “use what’s in your hand and you’ll get what’s in your heart”. I have had different roles in different areas of church life from looking after the 1:15 kids service leader to overseeing the venue teams. My latest area was looking after some of the children’s ministry at our Brisbane campus. Looking back over the last few years it has been amazing to see what God has put in my hand and what He has given me to do. I know I would not have been able to any of it if I had not been diligent and faithful with the smaller things that I was given. I had a few people who believed in me even in my ADD hyperactive randomness and who trusted me to take a piece of the kingdom and move forward. I thank God for all the opportunities that I have had and I pray I always stay faithful to keep seeing the dreams God has given me come to pass.
Don’t look at a task that seems to be small and invaluable as a negative thing, but see it as God making sure you can handle what is next, and what is next could be massive!!!! If you are faithful in the small, you’ll be faithful in the large.
MV
I just finished Donald Miller’s latest book called “a million miles in a thousand years” and it was fantastic!!! It was a great read about our lives as a story. It made an impact on me and how I want my life to be a story worth reading… Its not about overcoming all obstacles and obtaining perfection, but it is about trying and doing whatever you can to get out of your spectator seat in life and do something, do anything. I highly rate it for everyone…. A must read
MV
Well I have finished reading the twitlight series and they were unreal!!!! I loved them… I have never been so attatched to books before and I was sucked in from the first chapter…. I am so excited about the movies that will be coming out… I am a huge fan and think they are a fantastic read….
My secret hope is that she will write some more and I won’t be stuck writing my own in my head of what is to come of Edward and Bella… anyway I was just so pumped I had to write about it!!!!
MV
Well Sunday afternoon I left church and headed to the South Bank of Brisbane where there is a man made beach there which was phenomenal!!!! It was a great time to sit and eat and unwind after a weekend of ministry… From there I headed with a couple friends to the Gold Coast!!!! I stayed at the Courtyard Marriott less than a block from the beach… They upgraded me to a King size room facing the ocean which took the experience to a whole-notha-level… I was in my room for a matter of minutes and fireworks started going off in celebration of the Grand Prix which was taking place right near my hotel…
I went to dinner and got an amazing burger at the Hard Rock Cafe and then headed to Baskin Robins for some dessert… It was a great to start of with and the only thing that could top it was Monday, when I went to Movie World!!!!
Movie World was not that impressive as I am from America and we have the best theme parks in the world, but none the less it was still fantastic… I rode the Superman rollercoaster and experienced 4 positive G-forces and 1 negative G-force… I shot into space like a rocket on the Batman Spaceshot… and I went upside down hanging from the edge of my seat on the Lethal Weapon!!! It was a fantastice day and the rain held off for us. We finished the day with 3 rides on childrens rollercoaster in Looney Tune world and saw Shrek in 4-D… I still don’t know what 4D is, but it rocked my little socks… N E way thats what I did on my day off and it was superb…. check it out if you get a chance… now back to work
MV
I was thinking today about teams and building culture and all that stuff that comes with pioneering a ministry or anything for that matter and the reoccurring thought is that no matter what there will be hard times and challenges and “hard yards”, but it’s what we do in those times that sets us up for the other side of the mountain( I can hear miley cirus right now)… Leadership is proven and the only way that your leadership will stand the test of time is if you are willing to put in the hard yards and work for what you want…. things don’t just happen in life, what you need does fall from the sky like rain in Seattle. Sometimes if you want it, you have to earn it…
Thats my thought
MV
I was thinking the other day about Leadership and all that good stuff and a thought popped into my head that Joel A’bell once said and its this…”Leadership is always a positive”. There isn’t really anything called bad leadership it’s a lack of leadership…
So I was expanding on that kind of thougth and it came to my attention that Leadership is always proactive.. you’re always going somewhere, you’re always moving forward… even when things don’t work out and you have to lead down a different path it is still proactive… Leadership can’t wait for something to happen and follow, thats called lack of leadership…
There’s my thought, Leadership is always proactive
MV
Hello everyone!!!! well i know its been a while (I wonder how many times I have written that????) n e way…. I am now living in Brisbane for a little bit, and WOW i love the weather!!!! I am hanging out at Hillsong Brisbane for a few weeks and helping out in Hillsong Kids…. I thought I would just share for a moment about what’s in my head right…..now….
Since Brisbane is very new too me my perspective is very fresh and it’s great to see things in a new light and how we can move things forward. I flew up to a new city and found a new perspective, but you don’t have to leave where you are to get it… you can just ask for it… believe that God always wants to show us news things in a new way and all we have to do it tap into that… I spent the first 20 minutes of my day at the office just looking at where we run our primary service and getting ideas of how we can make the staging look better and add to the program more than it ever has…. I believe that if you ask, you will recieve… I’m sure that you will too… and remember its for the better and God wants to take us from Glory to Glory and strength to strength… We should always be progressing and moving the kingdom forward!!!
MV
Happy birthday to my amazing and older sister Nicole!!!! I hope you have a fantastic day and make the most of your 28th year in existence… and also you share a birthday with Joel Houston… how neat… your gift is in the mail so make sure you keep your eye out for that…. Love you!!!!
MV