Loop Listen Focus

From the Idiots That Brought You…

Paul — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:29:02 +0000

It seems that Wellington airport chief executive Steve Fitzgerald thinks that copying the Hollywood sign in Wellington will cement our city as an international tourism landmark.

Image from stuff.co.nz

Not only is this one of the most idiotic things I’ve ever heard, the idea of copying immediately suggests we are not a worthy tourist destination in our own right.

David Farrar puts it in his own very special way and I wholeheartedly agree with him.

What I would really like to remind people is that this crazy idea that imitation is a good thing comes from the very same people who believe we should put up a couple of ~~pumpkins~~… oops… I mean, buildings that look like rocks at the airport.

The concept being that they are creative, innovative and unique. In Steve Fitzgerald’s own words:

“Our radical departure from traditional airport design worldwide is entirely deliberate. What is set to become New Zealand’s newest iconic building, The Rock combines functionality and capacity with what will be a memorable visitor experience. It’s edgy and in keeping with our Wild at Heart attitude, reflecting Wellington’s status as a vibrant and daring cultural city…”

Personally I think these are atrocious as well and will be a total embarrassment. That said, at least they are an original embarrassment.

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The Law of Triviality

Paul — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:49:10 +0000

Great post on Lifehacker by John Cook about Parkinson’s Law – A book that he picked up for $1 that opens with the oft quoted line

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion

From a church leadership point of view there’s an even more interesting law quoted.

The Law of Triviality

… the time spent on any item of the agenda will be in inverse proportion to the sum involved.

The idea is that people are more likely to contribute to the discussion of things they understand. A nuclear reactor will sail through the finance committee, but a bicycle shed will cause endless debate because everyone can understand it and everyone has an opinion.

On behalf of everyone who’s ever sat through a church leadership meeting… Ain’t it true!

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Classic Quote

Paul — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:35:52 +0000

I suspect in response to my post “Where are Our Great Leaders” Michael Osterman tweeted the following which should, in my opinion, be recorded for posterity!

As for current great leaders in politics, we could tweet the entire list and still use nowhere near 140 characters!

I love it.

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The Repeaters

Paul — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:02:31 +0000

Why does this feel so relevant lately?

As Cameron Slater (of Whale Oil fame) would say – “They’re just a bunch of repeaters”

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Amazing – NASA’s new Project

Paul — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:25:07 +0000

via The Onion – Enjoy

NASA Scientists Plan To Approach Girl By 2018

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The Real Problem With Multi-Site Churches

Paul — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:19:00 +0000

I’ve always been a little concerned with the concept of “video preaching” which many multi-site churches use.

And now it looks like video may soon give way to “hologram” preaching!

Shock horror.

I’ve always thought my concerns were mostly that preaching from a screen (or even a hologram) doesn’t seem personal enough. That, as a preacher myself, I need the feedback of the congregation and the influence of the Holy Spirit to know when the message needs to change a bit from that planned.

But the more I think about it, that’s not the main issue.

For years the leaders of these very same multi-site churches have been, quite rightly, pushing us to spend more time building leaders. Investing our time into them so they in turn can build leaders and the influence of Jesus through those leaders can grow exponentially.

But because of the marvels of technology one single preacher can reach the exponential numbers themselves.

The trouble is… are we investing time in the young preachers, building them up so the good work can carry on after we are off the scene?

Or are we heading for a time when we have a dearth of quality, Holy Spirit inspired communicators?

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A Nugget Hidden Amongst the Gold

Paul — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:01:00 +0000

Gail Hyatt writes a great blog she calls “Treasure Hunt”. So called because she’s always looking beneath the surface for what’s hiding there.

First and foremost, can I recommend you go over there, have a poke around and, if you like what you see, subscribe. You’ll be the better for it!

In this very tradition of seeing something else I noticed a phrase in a recent post of hers. The post was entitled “Look At Your Feet” and was about listening to God, knowing that He’s there with you and that you need not be anxious or afraid.

That in itself made it a post worth considering at depth. But there was a phrase within the post that really struck me. You see, in “looking at her feet” she enabled herself to really focus in on the conversation and the person she was meeting. She put it this way:

I just abandoned myself to our time together…

This is something I need to practice. In an earlier post I commented that the name of this blog includes the word “focus” as I need to be better at giving people my full attention.

Well, maybe I need to do better than that, maybe I need to “abandon myself to my time with them?”

What do you think? Good idea or what?

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Rant of the Day

Paul — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:06:17 +0000

Because I’m picking some of our youth up from an event, I’m listening to my precious Crusaders thump the helpless Blues on the radio.
My rant? Please please commentators… Give a regular score update. I listened for more than 10 minutes before they even mentioned it!

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Amazing Video

Paul — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:36:18 +0000

From the people who brought you the “Treadmill” video! Enjoy.

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Right Turn Rule to Change

Paul — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:40:19 +0000

It looks like the ridiculous right turn rule in New Zealand is going to change. We’re the only country in the world that uses it and it causes so much confusion.

So… well done to the government for at last starting to look at it.

Next on the agenda should be the introduction of a left turn on red rule. It works well elsewhere and helps the flow of traffic.

Note to my American and European friends – We drive on the left hand side of the road over here. So a left turn on red would be our equivalent to your right turn on red rule.

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