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I read an blog post this week, by Penelope Trunk, that has got me thinking.  The post, Being an expert takes time, not talent, sites a Harvard Business Review article from 2007 which takes-on our commonly-held ideas and explains how expertise is often not what we think it is.

“…there is no correlation between IQ and expert performance in fields such as chess, music, sports, and medicine. The only innate differences that turn out to be significant—and they matter primarily in sports—are height and body size.” So what factor does correlate with success? One thing emerges very clearly is that successful performers “had practiced intensively, had studied with devoted teachers, and had been supported enthusiastically by their families throughout their developing years.”

Today the standard for being an international success at anything is so high that the authors say you need to spend at least ten years working in a very focused, everyday way on the thing you want to be great at.

I have some things I want to be an expert at; I hope you do too.  I have a few other things that I’d like to be really good at, if not an expert.  I’ve started asking myself: “What am I going to do today to become an expert?”

Maybe its not revolutionary thinking, but it’s silly for us to assume that we can be great, or even good, at something we’re unwilling to invest a large amount of time into.

Someone might find this insight demotivating; You mean I have to work HARD and do it EVERY day to be an expert? To me though, the insight is encouraging; even the most gifted have to work LONG and HARD to become experts… and it’s time and dedication that often trump inclination in becoming an expert.

What are you intentionally investing a lot of time into?

I’ll be honest: I’m really excited about LOST returning tonight.

We’re planning to watch tonight after our LifeGroup meeting.

I’m very intrigued by some of the imagery they’ve chosen to use in promoting this season.  The picture above- obviously inspired by Da Vinci’s “Last Supper.“  And also this TV spot they were running at the end of last year, set to the tune of “Amazing Grace.”

Should be an interesting season and finale to the show.

I just hope it doesn’t end with Hurley waking-up from a dream.

The book of Nehemiah may be my favorite in the Old Testament; it tells such a great story.  I was reading though the book again last week and was struck again by how Nehemiah was just minding his own business and enjoying a life of comfort until some news from a far-off place completely disrupted everything to the point that he was no longer content to stay where he was; he could not ignore it.  He could not simply pray about it.  Nehemiah was disrupted to the point that he had to act.

So often our prayers are prayers for comfort, for protection, for God to give us safety… and these are good prayers, however sometimes the best thing for us is not for us to be comfortable, protected and safe, but for our lives to be disrupted to the point that we’re no longer content with the status quo.  Sometimes a Holy Disruption is exactly what we need to wake us up to what God has for us.

This morning is a monumental one for us at Community Church.  For the past 27+ years we’ve had one Senior Pastor; our Founding Pastor, Pastor Arlie Whitlow.  By this afternoon, though, we’ll have a new Senior Pastor; Pastor Charlie Whitlow.

This is an exciting Sunday for us because this is not one of those situations where one Pastor gets voted-out or pushed-out, or a situation where some new guy from the outside gets brought in… Thankfully today we’re cerebrating something great that God is doing in our church.

God has done some awesome things in Chapter 1 of our church’s history.  I can only imagine all the amazing things He’ll be doing in Chapter 2.  Exciting days are ahead.

I’ve recently been in a few different conversations, with different people, where a lack of resources was lamented as a reason they were not able to do all the creative things they wanted to.

Those cool moving lights cost money.  Hiring a good designer isn’t cheap.  Building a new set every few weeks is a big undertaking.  Too often though, we allow our lack of resources to be an excuse for not doing something great.

Its true that, if money where no object, it would be pretty easy to make your Christmas Eve service look like a U2 concert… while that might be impressive, it wouldn’t really be all that creative; you just copied what someone else had already done.  Pulling-off a similar experience on a $1000 budget, not THAT would take some creativity.

Lack is the currency of creativity.

I’ve been pushing myself lately to not see the lack of resources as inhibiting my creativity, but to see it as an opportunity to be even more creative.  Trying to make due with little will cause you to try things you would have never tried, to do things in a way you’ve never done them, and to rethink everything… in the process creativity is often produced.