Dragons or Dinosaurs: Creation or Evolution? (2010 Documentary HD)
Sunday, May 10, 2015
O Significado de Ser Humano
http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/o-significado-de-ser-humano/
Compilação
Então disse Deus: "Façamos o homem à nossa imagem, conforme a nossa semelhança... Criou Deus o homem à sua imagem, à imagem de Deus o criou.—Gênesis 1:26–27[1]
*
Vocês demonstram que são uma carta de Cristo... escrita não com tinta, mas com o EspÃrito do Deus vivo, não em tábuas de pedra, mas em tábuas de corações humanos.—2 CorÃntios 3:3
*
A história do cristianismo apresenta Cristo como Filho de Deus na forma humana, para quem e por meio de quem se fez toda a criação. Ao encarnar a forma humana, Cristo restaurou a imagem real humana secando as lágrimas de um mundo em estado lamentável, renovando a imagem de Deus no nosso Ãntimo, e superando os inimigos do pecado e da morte.
Para mim, Cristo, juntamente com os filósofos Pascal e Solzhenitsyn, fornece a única base que oferece esperança para as contradições que enfrentamos no nosso coração. Muito mais do que apenas uma esperança para o futuro ou um meio de escape da realidade atual, Cristo nos redime da tensão interior, entre a minha identidade como filha de Deus e filha da humanidade. Temos certeza da promessa que nos foi feita: “Assim como levamos a imagem do homem que veio do pó, também levaremos a imagem do homem que veio do céu.” Pois Cristo não só redime a humanidade caÃda, ressuscitando consigo a nossa natureza, servindo de mediador que nos eleva a Deus, Cristo veio unir a humanidade com Deus para que possamos ser essencialmente humanos como Ele é.—Jill Carattini
O valor do ser humano
Deus criou a nós, assim como a natureza, e nos fez diferentes de todas as suas outras criações — à Sua imagem e semelhança. Ele nos criou seres Ãmpares e de forma Ãntima insuflou em nós a vida.
Ele nos criou seres pessoais, capazes de ter um relacionamento com Ele e outros seres humanos. Ele nos fez uma combinação de fÃsico e espiritual ao nos dar um corpo e um espÃrito. E apesar de toda a humanidade ter pecado contra Ele, Ele nos ama tanto que fez uma maneira de nos reconciliarmos com Ele por meio da vida, morte, e ressurreição de Seu filho, Jesus.
Deus ama aqueles que criou à Sua imagem e semelhança. Somos preciosos para Ele. Pelo fato de Deus valorizar o ser humano, cada um tem um valor próprio intrÃnseco e essencial. Isso deveria nos fazer valorizar cada pessoa, independentemente de gênero, raça, cor de pele ou crença, pois fomos todos criados iguais. Cada pessoa possui parte da imagem de Deus e deveria ser respeitada e tratada como tal. O nÃvel social ou econômico da pessoa não diminui o seu valor intrÃnseco.
Recém-nascidos, crianças, idosos, enfermos, deficientes, bebês no ventre, pessoas famintas, viúvas, prisioneiras, aquelas com quem você discorda, até mesmo seus inimigos, todo ser humano, não importa sua condição, crença religiosa ou as circunstâncias, tem a dignidade da imagem e semelhança de Deus, e merece honra e respeito. Ver que as pessoas têm a imagem e semelhança de Deus deveria nos libertar de preconceitos por raça, religião e qualquer outro tipo. Cada um deveria considerar e tratar os outros com respeito, apesar das diferenças.
Deveria também nos fazer olhar para nós mesmos com respeito e dignidade. Entendermos que Deus nos ama deveria nos ajudar a nos valorizarmos mental, fÃsica e espiritualmente e nos dar uma visão positiva de nós mesmos, de nos cuidarmos fisicamente, e, no temor a Deus, alimentarmos nossos espÃritos de maneira positiva. Deveria nos lembrar que nossa vida é sagrada, impedindo-nos assim de nos auto prejudicarmos. Nós deverÃamos reconhecer que, apesar dos nossos pontos fracos e defeitos, e da maneira como percebemos nosso valor, aparência fÃsica e habilidades acadêmicas ou intelectuais, Deus nos valoriza, portanto também deverÃamos nos valorizar.
Perceber que Deus valoriza os seres humanos, que Ele nos ama e Se importa, deveria nos fazer valorizar a humanidade, reconhecer o valor de cada pessoa, inclusive o nosso, e nos esforçarmos ao máximo por viver em harmonia e paz com outros.
Personalidade irredutÃvel
Se fosse possÃvel programar um computador nos mÃnimos detalhes com estratégias utilizadas no jogo de xadrez a ponto de derrotar o campeão mais brilhante, então poderÃamos dizer que o computador é mais humano do que o maior jogador de xadrez do mundo? Não é provável, pois fazer isso reduziria inteligência à eficiência computacional, memória e componentes fÃsicos.
Personalidade, de acordo com o entendimento cristão, não pode ser reduzida a forma ou função. Na verdade, a nossa identidade é sagrada por definição, pois fomos criados por Deus à imagem de Deus. Fomos dotados de natureza moral, com a capacidade de dar amor e entender a bondade. A criança não avalia seu valor por sua beleza fÃsica ou destreza mental, mas em refletir a beleza de seu criador. Ser humano envolve um valor transcendente, enraizado na essência de Deus.
Conforme fazemos caminho passando pelas particularidades da bioética, devemos olhar para a face e a mente de Deus, não a face e o QI de uma pessoa. Só assim poderemos entender verdadeiramente o significado de ser humano.—Ravi Zacharias
Deus enviou Seu filho
São muitos os momentos surpreendentes e significativos registrados na história. Por exemplo, na história contemporânea certos eventos se salientam como a Reforma, no caso, o primeiro transplante de coração em 1967, ou quando o homem caminhou na lua pela primeira vez (1969). Estes são apenas três acontecimentos que me vieram à mente dentre dezenas estudados na história.
Mas, o mais importante que dá origem a todos esses se encontra em Gálatas 4:4: “Mas, quando chegou a plenitude do tempo, Deus enviou seu Filho.” A BÃblia ensina que o tempo e a eternidade colidiram quando o Deus-homem veio viver entre nós, nascido de uma virgem. O criado do tempo e Senhor da eternidade se tornou um ser humano. A humanidade e a divindade se chocaram (não se tornaram idênticos), e história jamais foi a mesma!—Michael Suderman
Concebido em personalidade
Tu criaste o Ãntimo do meu ser e me teceste no ventre de minha mãe. Eu te louvo porque me fizeste de modo especial e admirável. Tuas obras são maravilhosas! Disso tenho plena certeza. Meus ossos não estavam escondidos de ti quando em secreto fui formado e entretecido como nas profundezas da terra. Os teus olhos viram o meu embrião; todos os dias determinados para mim foram escritos no teu livro antes de qualquer deles existir.—Salmo 139:13–16
Criado para a justiça
A vereda do justo é como a luz da alvorada, que brilha cada vez mais até à plena claridade do dia.—Provérbios 4:18
*
Esta vida não está relacionada à justiça, mas a aprender justiça; não à saúde, mas à cura; não em ser, mas em se tornar; não em descansar, mas em se exercitar. Ainda não somos o que deverÃamos ser, mas estamos evoluindo nesse sentido. É um processo. É contÃnuo. Não chegamos ao fim, estamos a caminho. Ainda não vemos o fulgor da glória, mas tudo estamos no processo de purificação.—Martinho Lutero
Publicado no Âncora em abril de 2015.
[1] Os versÃculos aqui citados são da Nova Versão Internacional (NVI).
Compilação
Então disse Deus: "Façamos o homem à nossa imagem, conforme a nossa semelhança... Criou Deus o homem à sua imagem, à imagem de Deus o criou.—Gênesis 1:26–27[1]
*
Vocês demonstram que são uma carta de Cristo... escrita não com tinta, mas com o EspÃrito do Deus vivo, não em tábuas de pedra, mas em tábuas de corações humanos.—2 CorÃntios 3:3
*
A história do cristianismo apresenta Cristo como Filho de Deus na forma humana, para quem e por meio de quem se fez toda a criação. Ao encarnar a forma humana, Cristo restaurou a imagem real humana secando as lágrimas de um mundo em estado lamentável, renovando a imagem de Deus no nosso Ãntimo, e superando os inimigos do pecado e da morte.
Para mim, Cristo, juntamente com os filósofos Pascal e Solzhenitsyn, fornece a única base que oferece esperança para as contradições que enfrentamos no nosso coração. Muito mais do que apenas uma esperança para o futuro ou um meio de escape da realidade atual, Cristo nos redime da tensão interior, entre a minha identidade como filha de Deus e filha da humanidade. Temos certeza da promessa que nos foi feita: “Assim como levamos a imagem do homem que veio do pó, também levaremos a imagem do homem que veio do céu.” Pois Cristo não só redime a humanidade caÃda, ressuscitando consigo a nossa natureza, servindo de mediador que nos eleva a Deus, Cristo veio unir a humanidade com Deus para que possamos ser essencialmente humanos como Ele é.—Jill Carattini
O valor do ser humano
Deus criou a nós, assim como a natureza, e nos fez diferentes de todas as suas outras criações — à Sua imagem e semelhança. Ele nos criou seres Ãmpares e de forma Ãntima insuflou em nós a vida.
Ele nos criou seres pessoais, capazes de ter um relacionamento com Ele e outros seres humanos. Ele nos fez uma combinação de fÃsico e espiritual ao nos dar um corpo e um espÃrito. E apesar de toda a humanidade ter pecado contra Ele, Ele nos ama tanto que fez uma maneira de nos reconciliarmos com Ele por meio da vida, morte, e ressurreição de Seu filho, Jesus.
Deus ama aqueles que criou à Sua imagem e semelhança. Somos preciosos para Ele. Pelo fato de Deus valorizar o ser humano, cada um tem um valor próprio intrÃnseco e essencial. Isso deveria nos fazer valorizar cada pessoa, independentemente de gênero, raça, cor de pele ou crença, pois fomos todos criados iguais. Cada pessoa possui parte da imagem de Deus e deveria ser respeitada e tratada como tal. O nÃvel social ou econômico da pessoa não diminui o seu valor intrÃnseco.
Recém-nascidos, crianças, idosos, enfermos, deficientes, bebês no ventre, pessoas famintas, viúvas, prisioneiras, aquelas com quem você discorda, até mesmo seus inimigos, todo ser humano, não importa sua condição, crença religiosa ou as circunstâncias, tem a dignidade da imagem e semelhança de Deus, e merece honra e respeito. Ver que as pessoas têm a imagem e semelhança de Deus deveria nos libertar de preconceitos por raça, religião e qualquer outro tipo. Cada um deveria considerar e tratar os outros com respeito, apesar das diferenças.
Deveria também nos fazer olhar para nós mesmos com respeito e dignidade. Entendermos que Deus nos ama deveria nos ajudar a nos valorizarmos mental, fÃsica e espiritualmente e nos dar uma visão positiva de nós mesmos, de nos cuidarmos fisicamente, e, no temor a Deus, alimentarmos nossos espÃritos de maneira positiva. Deveria nos lembrar que nossa vida é sagrada, impedindo-nos assim de nos auto prejudicarmos. Nós deverÃamos reconhecer que, apesar dos nossos pontos fracos e defeitos, e da maneira como percebemos nosso valor, aparência fÃsica e habilidades acadêmicas ou intelectuais, Deus nos valoriza, portanto também deverÃamos nos valorizar.
Perceber que Deus valoriza os seres humanos, que Ele nos ama e Se importa, deveria nos fazer valorizar a humanidade, reconhecer o valor de cada pessoa, inclusive o nosso, e nos esforçarmos ao máximo por viver em harmonia e paz com outros.
Personalidade irredutÃvel
Se fosse possÃvel programar um computador nos mÃnimos detalhes com estratégias utilizadas no jogo de xadrez a ponto de derrotar o campeão mais brilhante, então poderÃamos dizer que o computador é mais humano do que o maior jogador de xadrez do mundo? Não é provável, pois fazer isso reduziria inteligência à eficiência computacional, memória e componentes fÃsicos.
Personalidade, de acordo com o entendimento cristão, não pode ser reduzida a forma ou função. Na verdade, a nossa identidade é sagrada por definição, pois fomos criados por Deus à imagem de Deus. Fomos dotados de natureza moral, com a capacidade de dar amor e entender a bondade. A criança não avalia seu valor por sua beleza fÃsica ou destreza mental, mas em refletir a beleza de seu criador. Ser humano envolve um valor transcendente, enraizado na essência de Deus.
Conforme fazemos caminho passando pelas particularidades da bioética, devemos olhar para a face e a mente de Deus, não a face e o QI de uma pessoa. Só assim poderemos entender verdadeiramente o significado de ser humano.—Ravi Zacharias
Deus enviou Seu filho
São muitos os momentos surpreendentes e significativos registrados na história. Por exemplo, na história contemporânea certos eventos se salientam como a Reforma, no caso, o primeiro transplante de coração em 1967, ou quando o homem caminhou na lua pela primeira vez (1969). Estes são apenas três acontecimentos que me vieram à mente dentre dezenas estudados na história.
Mas, o mais importante que dá origem a todos esses se encontra em Gálatas 4:4: “Mas, quando chegou a plenitude do tempo, Deus enviou seu Filho.” A BÃblia ensina que o tempo e a eternidade colidiram quando o Deus-homem veio viver entre nós, nascido de uma virgem. O criado do tempo e Senhor da eternidade se tornou um ser humano. A humanidade e a divindade se chocaram (não se tornaram idênticos), e história jamais foi a mesma!—Michael Suderman
Concebido em personalidade
Tu criaste o Ãntimo do meu ser e me teceste no ventre de minha mãe. Eu te louvo porque me fizeste de modo especial e admirável. Tuas obras são maravilhosas! Disso tenho plena certeza. Meus ossos não estavam escondidos de ti quando em secreto fui formado e entretecido como nas profundezas da terra. Os teus olhos viram o meu embrião; todos os dias determinados para mim foram escritos no teu livro antes de qualquer deles existir.—Salmo 139:13–16
Criado para a justiça
A vereda do justo é como a luz da alvorada, que brilha cada vez mais até à plena claridade do dia.—Provérbios 4:18
*
Esta vida não está relacionada à justiça, mas a aprender justiça; não à saúde, mas à cura; não em ser, mas em se tornar; não em descansar, mas em se exercitar. Ainda não somos o que deverÃamos ser, mas estamos evoluindo nesse sentido. É um processo. É contÃnuo. Não chegamos ao fim, estamos a caminho. Ainda não vemos o fulgor da glória, mas tudo estamos no processo de purificação.—Martinho Lutero
Publicado no Âncora em abril de 2015.
[1] Os versÃculos aqui citados são da Nova Versão Internacional (NVI).
Moving Outside Your Comfort Zone
http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/moving-outside-your-comfort-zone/
A compilation
Audio length: 10:10
Download Audio (9.3MB)
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way.—Philippians 3:13–151
*
Once you start stepping out of your comfort zone, the leap becomes easier and less intimidating over time; you will grow accustomed to what researchers call “productive discomfort.” Armed with a newfound acquaintanceship with the unfamiliar and uncomfortable, you will find yourself more willing, more eager, more at peace with the idea of pushing farther and climbing higher.
Our lives are filled with the situations that beckon us outside our bubbles. Whether it is deciding to cut out sodas and sugar to lose the extra weight, go to the gym consistently, leave the job we hate, start a job we love, or even to join a Bible study with, dare I say, strangers, we regularly come within inches of crossing the threshold of our comfort zones—but we hesitate. We turn back because we are afraid, because we lack the faith to move our feet forward.
One day Jesus was teaching along the Sea of Galilee when He decided to hop into a nearby fishing boat and make the rocking vessel His pulpit. Perhaps He noticed that the boat in which He sat was fishless, because after His seaside sermon, He told Simon the fisherman to move into deeper water and cast his nets there. Having had no luck all day, Simon responded reluctantly, but respectfully:
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have not caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”2
What do you suppose happened next to the fishless fisherman? The next verse tells us:
“When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.”3
Not only did the nets start to break, but another boat had to come to their aid, and then both boats began to sink—and perhaps stink—with fish!
This snippet of Scripture speaks directly to those times in our lives when we find ourselves frustrated and forlorn, yet simultaneously unwilling to move past our comfort zones toward deeper, more promising waters. We feel like fishermen sitting idly in an empty boat. Like Simon, James, and John, we have done all we can with the talents, time, and tools we have. We have awoken before the break of day, set our sails, cast our nets, watched the moonrise and the stars appear, and returned home without having “caught anything.”
What do we do? To be completely honest with you, when I do not catch the fish, so to speak, that I desire after an all-out effort and hours at sea, my first impulse is to return to the harbor and trade in my fishing nets for a new line of work altogether. The last thing I want to do is go into even deeper water and try again. I love my comfort zone too much! But that is exactly what Jesus asked Simon and the other fishermen to do. Despite his better judgment, Simon trusted and obeyed this captivating “Master” and was richly rewarded with a hardly containable catch of fish. (Interesting enough Diana has placed the "nets" in plural. In the KJV we find Jesus asking the disciples to let down their nets. Peter, in fact, complains, but then decides to let down the "net," only one. Because of his half-hearted or doubting faith, he almost loses the catch when the "net" starts to break. I imagine we are all guilty of half-hearted obedience. The Lord may tell us to do something, and yet, we only obey reluctantly. We do not jump in with two feet obedience, but rather drag our feet. By doing so, we are implying, "Okay Lord, you said to do it, so I'm doing it, but I really do not believe you got it right." It's a good lesson to show the importance of having faith and obedience. Like the writer of Hebrews so aptly puts, "Without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:3 - Dennis)
The Lord wants to do the impossible in our lives. But to do so, He asks us to trust Him completely and to obey His word without conditions or complaints.—Diana Anderson-Tyler
Taking risks
There will be times when the Lord does something new or gives you what may be for you a radical new idea. Your natural reaction might be to click into “safe mode”—to shy away from the idea or to be hesitant to seize the opportunity, because it is new and untried and seems risky. But maybe it will be a case where the Lord wants you to seize the day. Because if you wait too long, or if you make others wait too long while you try to play it “safe,” or you generate a whole slew of red-tape-type hoops that you have to jump through, or that others have to jump through, you might miss the opportunity or the open door the Lord is presenting.
If you do not flow with the way the Lord is guiding, sometimes you risk missing a golden opportunity that has the potential to catapult you forward in a significant way. This highlights the importance of being willing to take risks when that’s what’s called for. In other words, not just generally being willing to take risks—because some people have that quality in abundance—but actually taking them when needed. This is called taking a calculated risk; that is, a risk that you take after having considered the various pros and cons, and having committed the project to the Lord. For example, you might be taking a calculated risk by deciding to walk through a new open door of opportunity, or to embark on a project that requires long-term collaboration, or to move to a new country, or to take on a new career path or to try a new method in your outreach.
When it comes to taking risks, you have got to do your homework. You would be wise to take time (even if you only have a small window of opportunity) to pray, to objectively discuss the pros and cons, to counsel with others, to hear from the Lord. If the Lord gives you the green light, then you can have the faith to take the plunge—with wisdom, desperation, prayer, and common sense—and trust the Lord for the outcome.
We want to preserve the good things in our lives and what the Lord has instructed us to build, but we have to be careful of holding on to and preserving the old for the sake of preservation alone. If this is our mindset, then we can wind up solidifying and dying. We can end up restricting the Spirit’s ability to move in us to do new and innovative things. We have to be willing to step outside our comfort zones to try and do new things, to change and to grow; we have to keep trading our old wine skins for new ones.
It’s difficult when we have to “roll the hard six”—that means to make a decision or to do something that’s potentially high risk and high reward. But when the Lord shows us to do that, then we just have to trust the Lord for the outcome. It will have come to that. But that’s our primary guarantee of everything in life, is it not?—The “God factor.” That if we trust God and follow what He shows us, everything is going to be okay.
We need to be ready to seize the opportunities the Lord brings our way, because when the Lord’s Spirit is moving and flowing freely, open doors are plenteous. We cannot let the doors the Lord opens for us close or the buses of golden opportunity pass us by. As David taught us, it is not as though the Lord will never give a second chance, but as much as possible, we want His first best; we want to capitalize on the opportunities the Lord gives us right away.
We need to be wise, prayerful, and consider the various factors and options, but we also need to be prepared to seize the day and support others as they do the same. We can not wait for everything to be so perfect and risk-free that we move too slowly and end up missing the Lord’s open doors of opportunity.—Peter Amsterdam4
*
Next time you hesitate to ask for more, ask yourself: What is the worst thing that could happen if I make this request? I believe we are scared of the “no,” both personally and professionally. Consequently, we stay in our “comfort zone” rather than moving past our fears in faith. Think about it: How many times have you stayed somewhere when you knew God was calling you in a different direction, simply because you were scared of the unknown, of your critics, or of disappointing someone?
If your mentality is that you do not deserve more, you will never get more. You do not get what you deserve; you get what you ask for. So do not be afraid to ask.—Morgan Canclini
*
The spiritual journey requires a departure from our comfort zone to step out into a world of unknown realities. … This story line is reflected in all the Old Testament sagas. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joseph, and Joshua all had to step out in faith and leave their old world to follow God’s promise. Even Jesus had to step out of the comforts of heaven to walk among us, arguably the most powerful mythic story of all time—a true myth.—Dwight Longenecker
*
Even Paul had a comfort zone. When you and I step out of our comfort zones to share the message of … salvation, we experience some anxiety. Even Paul shared this emotional connection with us. On one level, this statement by the über-apostle may shock us. We expect to hear Paul thunder away at the sinners and eloquently encourage the believers. This well-educated man of Jewish culture, transformed by Christ, who always presented the gospel with power, readily admits he often spoke “in weakness, in fear, and with much trembling.”5 Perhaps he understood the statement from Zechariah 4:6, "Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts.”—Ed Stetzer
Published on Anchor May 2015. Read by Carol Andrews.
Footnotes:
1 ESV.
2 Luke 5:5 NIV.
3 Luke 5:6 NIV.
4 Originally published December 2008, adapted.
5 1 Corinthians 2:3.
A compilation
Audio length: 10:10
Download Audio (9.3MB)
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way.—Philippians 3:13–151
*
Once you start stepping out of your comfort zone, the leap becomes easier and less intimidating over time; you will grow accustomed to what researchers call “productive discomfort.” Armed with a newfound acquaintanceship with the unfamiliar and uncomfortable, you will find yourself more willing, more eager, more at peace with the idea of pushing farther and climbing higher.
Our lives are filled with the situations that beckon us outside our bubbles. Whether it is deciding to cut out sodas and sugar to lose the extra weight, go to the gym consistently, leave the job we hate, start a job we love, or even to join a Bible study with, dare I say, strangers, we regularly come within inches of crossing the threshold of our comfort zones—but we hesitate. We turn back because we are afraid, because we lack the faith to move our feet forward.
One day Jesus was teaching along the Sea of Galilee when He decided to hop into a nearby fishing boat and make the rocking vessel His pulpit. Perhaps He noticed that the boat in which He sat was fishless, because after His seaside sermon, He told Simon the fisherman to move into deeper water and cast his nets there. Having had no luck all day, Simon responded reluctantly, but respectfully:
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have not caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”2
What do you suppose happened next to the fishless fisherman? The next verse tells us:
“When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.”3
Not only did the nets start to break, but another boat had to come to their aid, and then both boats began to sink—and perhaps stink—with fish!
This snippet of Scripture speaks directly to those times in our lives when we find ourselves frustrated and forlorn, yet simultaneously unwilling to move past our comfort zones toward deeper, more promising waters. We feel like fishermen sitting idly in an empty boat. Like Simon, James, and John, we have done all we can with the talents, time, and tools we have. We have awoken before the break of day, set our sails, cast our nets, watched the moonrise and the stars appear, and returned home without having “caught anything.”
What do we do? To be completely honest with you, when I do not catch the fish, so to speak, that I desire after an all-out effort and hours at sea, my first impulse is to return to the harbor and trade in my fishing nets for a new line of work altogether. The last thing I want to do is go into even deeper water and try again. I love my comfort zone too much! But that is exactly what Jesus asked Simon and the other fishermen to do. Despite his better judgment, Simon trusted and obeyed this captivating “Master” and was richly rewarded with a hardly containable catch of fish. (Interesting enough Diana has placed the "nets" in plural. In the KJV we find Jesus asking the disciples to let down their nets. Peter, in fact, complains, but then decides to let down the "net," only one. Because of his half-hearted or doubting faith, he almost loses the catch when the "net" starts to break. I imagine we are all guilty of half-hearted obedience. The Lord may tell us to do something, and yet, we only obey reluctantly. We do not jump in with two feet obedience, but rather drag our feet. By doing so, we are implying, "Okay Lord, you said to do it, so I'm doing it, but I really do not believe you got it right." It's a good lesson to show the importance of having faith and obedience. Like the writer of Hebrews so aptly puts, "Without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:3 - Dennis)
The Lord wants to do the impossible in our lives. But to do so, He asks us to trust Him completely and to obey His word without conditions or complaints.—Diana Anderson-Tyler
Taking risks
There will be times when the Lord does something new or gives you what may be for you a radical new idea. Your natural reaction might be to click into “safe mode”—to shy away from the idea or to be hesitant to seize the opportunity, because it is new and untried and seems risky. But maybe it will be a case where the Lord wants you to seize the day. Because if you wait too long, or if you make others wait too long while you try to play it “safe,” or you generate a whole slew of red-tape-type hoops that you have to jump through, or that others have to jump through, you might miss the opportunity or the open door the Lord is presenting.
If you do not flow with the way the Lord is guiding, sometimes you risk missing a golden opportunity that has the potential to catapult you forward in a significant way. This highlights the importance of being willing to take risks when that’s what’s called for. In other words, not just generally being willing to take risks—because some people have that quality in abundance—but actually taking them when needed. This is called taking a calculated risk; that is, a risk that you take after having considered the various pros and cons, and having committed the project to the Lord. For example, you might be taking a calculated risk by deciding to walk through a new open door of opportunity, or to embark on a project that requires long-term collaboration, or to move to a new country, or to take on a new career path or to try a new method in your outreach.
When it comes to taking risks, you have got to do your homework. You would be wise to take time (even if you only have a small window of opportunity) to pray, to objectively discuss the pros and cons, to counsel with others, to hear from the Lord. If the Lord gives you the green light, then you can have the faith to take the plunge—with wisdom, desperation, prayer, and common sense—and trust the Lord for the outcome.
We want to preserve the good things in our lives and what the Lord has instructed us to build, but we have to be careful of holding on to and preserving the old for the sake of preservation alone. If this is our mindset, then we can wind up solidifying and dying. We can end up restricting the Spirit’s ability to move in us to do new and innovative things. We have to be willing to step outside our comfort zones to try and do new things, to change and to grow; we have to keep trading our old wine skins for new ones.
It’s difficult when we have to “roll the hard six”—that means to make a decision or to do something that’s potentially high risk and high reward. But when the Lord shows us to do that, then we just have to trust the Lord for the outcome. It will have come to that. But that’s our primary guarantee of everything in life, is it not?—The “God factor.” That if we trust God and follow what He shows us, everything is going to be okay.
We need to be ready to seize the opportunities the Lord brings our way, because when the Lord’s Spirit is moving and flowing freely, open doors are plenteous. We cannot let the doors the Lord opens for us close or the buses of golden opportunity pass us by. As David taught us, it is not as though the Lord will never give a second chance, but as much as possible, we want His first best; we want to capitalize on the opportunities the Lord gives us right away.
We need to be wise, prayerful, and consider the various factors and options, but we also need to be prepared to seize the day and support others as they do the same. We can not wait for everything to be so perfect and risk-free that we move too slowly and end up missing the Lord’s open doors of opportunity.—Peter Amsterdam4
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Next time you hesitate to ask for more, ask yourself: What is the worst thing that could happen if I make this request? I believe we are scared of the “no,” both personally and professionally. Consequently, we stay in our “comfort zone” rather than moving past our fears in faith. Think about it: How many times have you stayed somewhere when you knew God was calling you in a different direction, simply because you were scared of the unknown, of your critics, or of disappointing someone?
If your mentality is that you do not deserve more, you will never get more. You do not get what you deserve; you get what you ask for. So do not be afraid to ask.—Morgan Canclini
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The spiritual journey requires a departure from our comfort zone to step out into a world of unknown realities. … This story line is reflected in all the Old Testament sagas. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joseph, and Joshua all had to step out in faith and leave their old world to follow God’s promise. Even Jesus had to step out of the comforts of heaven to walk among us, arguably the most powerful mythic story of all time—a true myth.—Dwight Longenecker
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Even Paul had a comfort zone. When you and I step out of our comfort zones to share the message of … salvation, we experience some anxiety. Even Paul shared this emotional connection with us. On one level, this statement by the über-apostle may shock us. We expect to hear Paul thunder away at the sinners and eloquently encourage the believers. This well-educated man of Jewish culture, transformed by Christ, who always presented the gospel with power, readily admits he often spoke “in weakness, in fear, and with much trembling.”5 Perhaps he understood the statement from Zechariah 4:6, "Not by strength or by might, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of Hosts.”—Ed Stetzer
Published on Anchor May 2015. Read by Carol Andrews.
Footnotes:
1 ESV.
2 Luke 5:5 NIV.
3 Luke 5:6 NIV.
4 Originally published December 2008, adapted.
5 1 Corinthians 2:3.
Friday, May 8, 2015
Relief Aid Fund for Nepal
Below is a write-up that was posted on Facebook by an American missionary who lives in Nepal with her family. If you are able, find a way to help.
It’s been 3 days since the earthquake hit Nepal. Three very, very long days. The first day was one of the SCARIEST days of my life. There were over 30 aftershocks the first day alone, and it was not just the quakes that were scary but the fear and anticipation of how big and when the next one would be. It felt like the earth was never gonna stop shaking, and we were all just waiting for every building around us to fall. Time seemed to drag on and on as we endured more and more aftershocks. Right about the time I felt a little more relaxed, another big one would hit. When will it every stop? Silver lining: spending all day with the RANCH kids who we were with at church when the earthquake hit. We got to camp outside for 24 hours with some of my favorite people in the world! One RANCH girl said, “It’s like a sleepover, but scary.”
The second day was one of the SADDEST days of my life. Our dear Nepali friend lost his mother when their shop collapsed on top of her. He has been praying for his Hindu family to become Christian ever since he became a believer several years ago. We spent all day with the family, buying wood for the cremation, searching for drinking water, and wondering how in the world we could console the dozens of weeping people (from the dozens of deceased) all around us. I have never considered too much what hell would be like, but all day I kept thinking that hell must be pretty similar: everyone around me was in agony, hopeless, desperate, empty, beyond consolation. The agony seemed so unexpected (even though the earthquake had been anticipated for years) and like it would never end. We prayed for hours for “Ama” to be resurrected, but instead just watched her burn. Silver lining: spending hours interceding on behalf of the Nepali people who I have come to love.
The third day was one of the most EXHAUSTING days of my life. It did not help that I had slept the past two nights in a tent and then a car. The earthquakes were small enough that people felt comfortable to start venturing out more. It was also long enough since the first quake that people were starting to run out of food in their homes. So it felt like all day was spent on a scooter running errands: searching for any store that was open so I could buy petrol, tarps, ropes, water, medicine, food. I also drove around for hours searching for an American friend who was missing. Silver lining: our friend is safe and it was beautiful to see all our staff (who have been staying together) work together each doing their own part: some taking care of the kids, others cooking, others organizing, some buying supplies, a few brainstorming how to get electricity and water in our houses.
I almost shot a fellow cop working undercover. It taught me a lot about police brutality.
By Steve Osborne, Washington Post, May 5, 2015
Steve Osborne is a retired NYPD officer and the author of The Job: Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop
It was dark out, the middle of the night. That’s when these things usually happen. In the glow of my high beams and flashing red lights, I could see the gun in his waistband–I had no doubt about it.
Backup is on the way–I think–but probably not for another minute or two. This confrontation is going to be over in the next few seconds. All I can focus on is the threat in front of me. I have tunnel vision, and I can hear my heart pounding.
The man with the gun is coming toward me and I have to make a decision and I have to make it now: shoot or don’t shoot, take someone’s life or don’t. Wait too long and my family may get that “call” in the middle of the night. Act too quickly and I’ll have to live with the consequences, and the sleepless nights, for the rest of my life.
The gun in my hand was anything but a comfort. It felt big, heavy, even burdensome, but it was the only thing standing between and him and me, and I was fully prepared to use it. This is a cop’s life.
Just a couple of minutes before, I’d been on call when a “gun run” at East Third St. and Avenue B, in New York, came over the air. The dispatcher stated that there was a male white and a Hispanic female in a blue auto, and that the male was armed with a gun.
I heard someone pick up the job, but nobody was answering to back them up. The dispatcher called out again, “Any available Nine unit to back Adam on a report of a man with a gun?”
No answer.
I decided the hell with it, I’m going.
I had driven only about a block when a blue car with a white male and a Hispanic female flew past me going the other way. I figured it had to be them, so I started to follow. The car was moving a little fast, and by the time I made the turn they were about two blocks ahead of me, so I hit the gas and tried to catch up. I snatched the radio off my belt and told the dispatcher, “I’m following a possible from the gun run at Three and B.”
They made the left on Seventh Street, and I was having a bit of a tough time catching up because he was hitting green lights all the way. I couldn’t use my red lights and siren, because if he saw me coming, the chase would be on. The best way to do this was to get behind him and try to grab him when he’s stuck in traffic. We always try to avoid a car chase, but it was 4 in the morning and there wasn’t much traffic.
He made a right on First Avenue and stopped at a red light on St. Mark’s Place. This was it, I couldn’t wait for another car to back me up because when the light turned green, he would be off again, and I’d be following him to the Bronx before he hit another red light.
So when the light turned green, I flipped on my flashing red lights and bleeped the siren, and much to my surprise he pulled right over. That was easy enough, I thought. I pulled in behind him and waited a moment. I figured I could stall for a few seconds and give one of the sectors a chance to swing by, but when I grabbed the radio to tell the dispatcher that I had the vehicle stopped, the driver’s door on the blue car swung open. Then a big white guy with a goofy grin stepped out and started walking toward me.
It was dark out, but it was easy to see, and I had no doubt about it. In the glow of my high beams and flashing lights, I could see the butt of a gun sticking out of his waistband. When he got out of the car his shirt lifted a little, and there it was right in front of me–and getting closer.
This is it–this is a cop’s life. Every minute of every day, this is what you wait for. This is what you think about, and this is what you prepare for: The Man with the Gun.
I looked at the gun, then at that dopey grin on his face, and I thought, “This guy is going to try and shoot me–and he’s pretty happy about it.”
All that thinking took about one second. Then I dropped the radio, grabbed my gun, yanked the door handle, and shoved it open with my shoulder–all in one move.
I jumped out of the car, pointed my gun right in his face, and yelled, “PUT ‘EM UP! PUT ‘EM UP, OR I’LL BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF!” Now his dopey grin was replaced by an “Oh s–” look.
Again, much to my surprise, he threw his hands right up and did exactly what I told him to. When I threw him onto the trunk of his car, he was trying to say something, but I couldn’t really hear him. I was wound up. I had him spread-eagle on the car with my gun screwed into the back of his head while I reached into his waistband and grabbed his gun.
While dealing with him, I had to keep one eye on the female in the car. I didn’t want her getting out and jumping on my back, or trying something else crazy because she wanted to help her man. Out in the street, a woman can be just as nasty and vicious as any guy can be, and a lot of times they’re worse.
Then I heard him say it again, but this time he yelled it, “I’m on the job.” That caught my attention. He was trying to tell me he was a cop.
“I’m on the job” is the universal NYPD jargon for “I’m a cop.” If he had said, “I’m a police officer,” I would have known he was full of s–. But in a situation like this, this was the correct–and the only–response.
I looked at the gun I just pulled off him, and saw it was a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber five-shot revolver–the standard NYPD off-duty gun. That’s when he mumbled, “My ID is in my back pocket.”
I shoved his gun into my pocket, then reached for his wallet, and when I opened it, there was an NYPD shield and ID card. That’s when he turned and said, “Can I take my hands off the car now?”
I unscrewed my gun from the back of his head, and we all started to relax. Turned out he really was a cop and worked in the Ninth, and the woman in the car was his girlfriend. He went on to tell me that some people over on Third Street didn’t like the fact that a neighborhood girl was dating a white cop, so sometimes they would call 911.
Under normal circumstances, I would have been pissed at him for getting out of the car the way he did, but he thought he was getting pulled over by one of his buddies. He apologized profusely and said he didn’t even know there was a new sergeant working midnights. After he explained everything, it all made perfect sense, so there was no need to make any more out of this than it was.
I took a peek into the car and very casually said, “How you doing?” The girl was petrified. She just sat there staring straight ahead, afraid to move an inch. She mumbled back a very soft, petite, “Hellooooo.”
Just then, Nine Adam pulls up, and now they have that “Oh s–” look on their faces. The new sergeant has one of their buddies pulled over, and this can’t be good. I explained what happened, and we all had a good laugh over it–cop humor. I told them to give back the gun run as a 10-90Y (Unnecessary), and I would do the same for the car stop.
We shook hands, introduced ourselves, and he said, “Welcome to the Ninth.” A year later, he would be working in my squad, and we would become good friends. And a few years after that at their wedding, we would all laugh about how the wedding almost didn’t happen because the new sergeant almost shot the groom.
Confrontations like this are all too common for police officers in America. You have a few seconds to make a life-or-death decision. Get it right and nobody hears about it, get it wrong and the whole world knows your name. Make 1,000 stops and everything goes smoothly, the exchange is handled with courtesy and respect by all parties concerned but then when you least expect it–it happens.
A short time after this, I stopped two males who had just committed a robbery and stabbed their victim in the process. This was nothing unusual, just another night on the job, just another stop, but suddenly without warning one of them pulled a gun on me, and in the middle of a dark street, I was in a fight for my life. It would be quite some time before someone pulled a gun and tried to shoot me again but in between there had been many stops, many decisions and much uncertainty.
Steve Osborne is a retired NYPD officer and the author of The Job: Tales from the Life of a New York City Cop
It was dark out, the middle of the night. That’s when these things usually happen. In the glow of my high beams and flashing red lights, I could see the gun in his waistband–I had no doubt about it.
Backup is on the way–I think–but probably not for another minute or two. This confrontation is going to be over in the next few seconds. All I can focus on is the threat in front of me. I have tunnel vision, and I can hear my heart pounding.
The man with the gun is coming toward me and I have to make a decision and I have to make it now: shoot or don’t shoot, take someone’s life or don’t. Wait too long and my family may get that “call” in the middle of the night. Act too quickly and I’ll have to live with the consequences, and the sleepless nights, for the rest of my life.
The gun in my hand was anything but a comfort. It felt big, heavy, even burdensome, but it was the only thing standing between and him and me, and I was fully prepared to use it. This is a cop’s life.
Just a couple of minutes before, I’d been on call when a “gun run” at East Third St. and Avenue B, in New York, came over the air. The dispatcher stated that there was a male white and a Hispanic female in a blue auto, and that the male was armed with a gun.
I heard someone pick up the job, but nobody was answering to back them up. The dispatcher called out again, “Any available Nine unit to back Adam on a report of a man with a gun?”
No answer.
I decided the hell with it, I’m going.
I had driven only about a block when a blue car with a white male and a Hispanic female flew past me going the other way. I figured it had to be them, so I started to follow. The car was moving a little fast, and by the time I made the turn they were about two blocks ahead of me, so I hit the gas and tried to catch up. I snatched the radio off my belt and told the dispatcher, “I’m following a possible from the gun run at Three and B.”
They made the left on Seventh Street, and I was having a bit of a tough time catching up because he was hitting green lights all the way. I couldn’t use my red lights and siren, because if he saw me coming, the chase would be on. The best way to do this was to get behind him and try to grab him when he’s stuck in traffic. We always try to avoid a car chase, but it was 4 in the morning and there wasn’t much traffic.
He made a right on First Avenue and stopped at a red light on St. Mark’s Place. This was it, I couldn’t wait for another car to back me up because when the light turned green, he would be off again, and I’d be following him to the Bronx before he hit another red light.
So when the light turned green, I flipped on my flashing red lights and bleeped the siren, and much to my surprise he pulled right over. That was easy enough, I thought. I pulled in behind him and waited a moment. I figured I could stall for a few seconds and give one of the sectors a chance to swing by, but when I grabbed the radio to tell the dispatcher that I had the vehicle stopped, the driver’s door on the blue car swung open. Then a big white guy with a goofy grin stepped out and started walking toward me.
It was dark out, but it was easy to see, and I had no doubt about it. In the glow of my high beams and flashing lights, I could see the butt of a gun sticking out of his waistband. When he got out of the car his shirt lifted a little, and there it was right in front of me–and getting closer.
This is it–this is a cop’s life. Every minute of every day, this is what you wait for. This is what you think about, and this is what you prepare for: The Man with the Gun.
I looked at the gun, then at that dopey grin on his face, and I thought, “This guy is going to try and shoot me–and he’s pretty happy about it.”
All that thinking took about one second. Then I dropped the radio, grabbed my gun, yanked the door handle, and shoved it open with my shoulder–all in one move.
I jumped out of the car, pointed my gun right in his face, and yelled, “PUT ‘EM UP! PUT ‘EM UP, OR I’LL BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF!” Now his dopey grin was replaced by an “Oh s–” look.
Again, much to my surprise, he threw his hands right up and did exactly what I told him to. When I threw him onto the trunk of his car, he was trying to say something, but I couldn’t really hear him. I was wound up. I had him spread-eagle on the car with my gun screwed into the back of his head while I reached into his waistband and grabbed his gun.
While dealing with him, I had to keep one eye on the female in the car. I didn’t want her getting out and jumping on my back, or trying something else crazy because she wanted to help her man. Out in the street, a woman can be just as nasty and vicious as any guy can be, and a lot of times they’re worse.
Then I heard him say it again, but this time he yelled it, “I’m on the job.” That caught my attention. He was trying to tell me he was a cop.
“I’m on the job” is the universal NYPD jargon for “I’m a cop.” If he had said, “I’m a police officer,” I would have known he was full of s–. But in a situation like this, this was the correct–and the only–response.
I looked at the gun I just pulled off him, and saw it was a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber five-shot revolver–the standard NYPD off-duty gun. That’s when he mumbled, “My ID is in my back pocket.”
I shoved his gun into my pocket, then reached for his wallet, and when I opened it, there was an NYPD shield and ID card. That’s when he turned and said, “Can I take my hands off the car now?”
I unscrewed my gun from the back of his head, and we all started to relax. Turned out he really was a cop and worked in the Ninth, and the woman in the car was his girlfriend. He went on to tell me that some people over on Third Street didn’t like the fact that a neighborhood girl was dating a white cop, so sometimes they would call 911.
Under normal circumstances, I would have been pissed at him for getting out of the car the way he did, but he thought he was getting pulled over by one of his buddies. He apologized profusely and said he didn’t even know there was a new sergeant working midnights. After he explained everything, it all made perfect sense, so there was no need to make any more out of this than it was.
I took a peek into the car and very casually said, “How you doing?” The girl was petrified. She just sat there staring straight ahead, afraid to move an inch. She mumbled back a very soft, petite, “Hellooooo.”
Just then, Nine Adam pulls up, and now they have that “Oh s–” look on their faces. The new sergeant has one of their buddies pulled over, and this can’t be good. I explained what happened, and we all had a good laugh over it–cop humor. I told them to give back the gun run as a 10-90Y (Unnecessary), and I would do the same for the car stop.
We shook hands, introduced ourselves, and he said, “Welcome to the Ninth.” A year later, he would be working in my squad, and we would become good friends. And a few years after that at their wedding, we would all laugh about how the wedding almost didn’t happen because the new sergeant almost shot the groom.
Confrontations like this are all too common for police officers in America. You have a few seconds to make a life-or-death decision. Get it right and nobody hears about it, get it wrong and the whole world knows your name. Make 1,000 stops and everything goes smoothly, the exchange is handled with courtesy and respect by all parties concerned but then when you least expect it–it happens.
A short time after this, I stopped two males who had just committed a robbery and stabbed their victim in the process. This was nothing unusual, just another night on the job, just another stop, but suddenly without warning one of them pulled a gun on me, and in the middle of a dark street, I was in a fight for my life. It would be quite some time before someone pulled a gun and tried to shoot me again but in between there had been many stops, many decisions and much uncertainty.
When you’re the boss, questions are better than orders
By Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman, LinkedIn, April 30, 2015
I love being a movie producer, I love having great colleagues, and I love having a production company, which I run with Ron Howard.
As part of all that, I’m a boss. What I don’t love, in fact, is being a boss, because I don’t love bossing people, I don’t really want to tell people what to do.
So I often manage people with curiosity–by asking questions instead of giving orders. As I told Harvard Business Review, I think questions are the most under-used management tool we’ve got.
Questions are an especially great management tool when I think someone isn’t doing what I would hope they would, or when I think something isn’t going in the direction I want it to go.
People often imagine that if there’s going to be conflict, they need to start with a firm hand, they need to remind people of the chain of command.
I’m never worried about who is in charge.
I’m worried about making sure we get the best possible decision, the best possible casting, script, movie trailer, financing deal–the best possible movie.
I’m worried about making sure everyone on a high-risk project has the same goal.
Asking questions at work elicits information, of course.
Asking questions creates a space for people to raise issues they are worried about, or to give the boss information he or she might not know, and might not be expecting.
Most important, asking questions gives people the chance to make the case for the way they want a decision to go. And vice-versa.
Back in 1991, we shot the movie Far and Away, starring Tom Cruise. Tom was at the top of his career. He was only twenty-nine years old, but he had already made Top Gun, The Color of Money, Rain Man, and Born on the Fourth of July.
Tom isn’t difficult to work with. But Far and Away was a challenging movie to make. It was an old-fashioned epic, a story of two immigrants leaving Ireland for America at the turn of the last century. We shot in Ireland and the western United States. It got expensive, but the movie wasn’t overtly commercial. When we figured out what it was going to cost, the studio told me to find ways of cutting the budget.
I flew to Ireland, and I went to Tom on the set. “Look, you’re not the producer of this movie,” I said. “But we all want to make it, we all have this vision of a movie we’re doing as artists, a story we care about. It’s going to be expensive, but we can’t spend as much money as it looks like we’re going to. We need to hold the line.”
I said to Tom, “Can you be the team leader here with the cast and crew? Can you be the guy that sets an example?”
He looked at me. “I’m one hundred percent that guy!” he said. “When I have to go to the bathroom, I’m going to run to the trailer and run back to the set. I’m going to set the pace for excellence, and respect, and tightening up.”
And that’s exactly what he did. He led. He was motivated. He motivated other people. We did make a really good movie, and we kept the budget under control.
I didn’t walk in and tell Tom what to do. I didn’t order everybody to work harder, to make do with less. I explained where we were. And I went to the key player, the person other people would respect, and I asked that a question: “Can you be the leader here?”
That’s something that asking questions does that is so vital:
It helps create a team, especially under trying circumstances. Curiosity–asking questions–helps create trust.
I think asking for people’s help–rather than directing it–is almost always the smart way of doing things, regardless of the stakes. It creates engagement rather than resistance.
And, as I explained in a story for Fast Company magazine this month, asking questions creates a completely different kind of culture at work.
Asking questions confers responsibility. Asking questions implies that the person you’re talking to has both the authority to come up with the ideas, the answers, the solutions–and some of the responsibility to do so as well.
Curiosity as a boss, curiosity at work, isn’t a matter of style. It’s much more important than that. If you’re a boss, and you manage by asking questions, you’re laying a foundation for the culture of your company or your group.
You’re letting people know the boss is willing to listen–even to information that’s unpleasant or unexpected.
You’re letting people know you value a diversity of perspectives–and that you appreciate that in the modern world of high-speed commerce, there may be more than one “right” answer to a work problem or a product problem, and that a diversity of views is the way to find those answers
Questions at work–delivered not like a prosecutor on a cross-exam, of course, but with a genuine spirit of humility and a desire to learn–are an apparently simple tool that changes the whole dynamic with the people you work with, and the results you get.
But you do have to listen to the answers.
I love being a movie producer, I love having great colleagues, and I love having a production company, which I run with Ron Howard.
As part of all that, I’m a boss. What I don’t love, in fact, is being a boss, because I don’t love bossing people, I don’t really want to tell people what to do.
So I often manage people with curiosity–by asking questions instead of giving orders. As I told Harvard Business Review, I think questions are the most under-used management tool we’ve got.
Questions are an especially great management tool when I think someone isn’t doing what I would hope they would, or when I think something isn’t going in the direction I want it to go.
People often imagine that if there’s going to be conflict, they need to start with a firm hand, they need to remind people of the chain of command.
I’m never worried about who is in charge.
I’m worried about making sure we get the best possible decision, the best possible casting, script, movie trailer, financing deal–the best possible movie.
I’m worried about making sure everyone on a high-risk project has the same goal.
Asking questions at work elicits information, of course.
Asking questions creates a space for people to raise issues they are worried about, or to give the boss information he or she might not know, and might not be expecting.
Most important, asking questions gives people the chance to make the case for the way they want a decision to go. And vice-versa.
Back in 1991, we shot the movie Far and Away, starring Tom Cruise. Tom was at the top of his career. He was only twenty-nine years old, but he had already made Top Gun, The Color of Money, Rain Man, and Born on the Fourth of July.
Tom isn’t difficult to work with. But Far and Away was a challenging movie to make. It was an old-fashioned epic, a story of two immigrants leaving Ireland for America at the turn of the last century. We shot in Ireland and the western United States. It got expensive, but the movie wasn’t overtly commercial. When we figured out what it was going to cost, the studio told me to find ways of cutting the budget.
I flew to Ireland, and I went to Tom on the set. “Look, you’re not the producer of this movie,” I said. “But we all want to make it, we all have this vision of a movie we’re doing as artists, a story we care about. It’s going to be expensive, but we can’t spend as much money as it looks like we’re going to. We need to hold the line.”
I said to Tom, “Can you be the team leader here with the cast and crew? Can you be the guy that sets an example?”
He looked at me. “I’m one hundred percent that guy!” he said. “When I have to go to the bathroom, I’m going to run to the trailer and run back to the set. I’m going to set the pace for excellence, and respect, and tightening up.”
And that’s exactly what he did. He led. He was motivated. He motivated other people. We did make a really good movie, and we kept the budget under control.
I didn’t walk in and tell Tom what to do. I didn’t order everybody to work harder, to make do with less. I explained where we were. And I went to the key player, the person other people would respect, and I asked that a question: “Can you be the leader here?”
That’s something that asking questions does that is so vital:
It helps create a team, especially under trying circumstances. Curiosity–asking questions–helps create trust.
I think asking for people’s help–rather than directing it–is almost always the smart way of doing things, regardless of the stakes. It creates engagement rather than resistance.
And, as I explained in a story for Fast Company magazine this month, asking questions creates a completely different kind of culture at work.
Asking questions confers responsibility. Asking questions implies that the person you’re talking to has both the authority to come up with the ideas, the answers, the solutions–and some of the responsibility to do so as well.
Curiosity as a boss, curiosity at work, isn’t a matter of style. It’s much more important than that. If you’re a boss, and you manage by asking questions, you’re laying a foundation for the culture of your company or your group.
You’re letting people know the boss is willing to listen–even to information that’s unpleasant or unexpected.
You’re letting people know you value a diversity of perspectives–and that you appreciate that in the modern world of high-speed commerce, there may be more than one “right” answer to a work problem or a product problem, and that a diversity of views is the way to find those answers
Questions at work–delivered not like a prosecutor on a cross-exam, of course, but with a genuine spirit of humility and a desire to learn–are an apparently simple tool that changes the whole dynamic with the people you work with, and the results you get.
But you do have to listen to the answers.
