It seems like more and more people are using the word “integrity” these days and more often times than not they are referring to the lack of integrity.  Whether we are talking about cheating in sports, pastors falling from grace, two-faced politicians, affairs, lying, cheating, stealing etc. it all boils down to The Lost Art Of Integrity.  If an individual’s integrity is compromised and questionable, that individual becomes compromised and questionable.

We must learn to always do what’s right, even when what’s wrong is easier.  We must learn to do what’s right, even when no one is looking.  We must walk the integrity walk and not just talk the integrity talk.  We must remember that people generally won’t question your integrity, if there is nothing about your integrity to question.  We must embrace the truth that when no one else is watching or listening, God is always watching and listening.

If you have integrity, nothing else matters.  If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.  ~Alan Simpson

What do you think?  Is this becoming a lost art?

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The amazing thing about the world of blogging is that we have the opportunity to access the thoughts and expertise of some of the greatest minds in the world.  My Google Reader is full of amazing blogs with content ranging from comedy, how to get things done, ministry, tech, social media, politics and the list goes on and on.  I love to find a new blog and a new great read.

As I come across a new blog that I really, really like; I find myself saying “I Love This Blog!” I’m assuming that many of you do the same thing from time to time.  There are many great bloggers, who provide amazing content absolutely free to you and I.  If you find yourself saying “I Love This Blog!” show your love.  Below are 4 ways to Show Your Love.

1. Subscribe- A subscription via e-mail, newsletter or RSS.  This is the ultimate compliment as you are basically saying, “I want to check this bloggers content out on a regular basis.”
2. Leave A Comment- Leaving a comment and engage in the conversation.  For those bloggers that allow comments, leaving a comment is always a nice way to say thank you and interact with the blogger at the same time.  It’s important to take into consideration The Twitter Effect On Blogging.
3. Tell Others-  Let others know about the blog, via Twitter (posts or RT’s), other social media or in casual conversations.  If you know someone that could benefit from or would enjoy the content of some blogs that you’re reading, share that information.  Again, the easiest way is to share the blog information is to share it with your entire Social Media network, someone in your network will definitely appreciate the content.
4. Tell The Blogger- Tell the blogger “I Love Your Blog” “I Love This Blog” “This Blog Is Tight” or a simple “Thank You!”  Show your love!

What do you think?  How do you show your love?  What blogs are you Lovin’ right now?

Guest Blog: Jason Curlee

You know that box…that six-sided structure…that structure that you and I might have been put in along the way. Well, it’s time to get out of it.

NO!!!!! It’s time to BUST OUT OF IT. It is time that you and I throw down the gloves and throw off the chains that have been kept us from going to the next level. It is time to “Bust Out Of The Box” that has kept us from being all that God has called us to be.

I remember the time I applied for a youth pastor position at the age of 33. What I was told was that I was too “old”. At that moment I let “their” box close on me.

Another time I let an organization almost kill the dream in me so that I could fit into what they wanted out of me for “their” ministry. I let their box close on me. And I almost closed the lid.

I once had the dream of planting a church ripped from me by a person who I thought was a friend…who couldn’t lead with someone else and then tried to put me in the box “he” thought I should be in.

What or who is it that has closed the box around you?

Is it your family telling you that you need to get a job other than ministry? Is it your boss telling you, you’ll always be at the bottom? Maybe it’s someone telling you, “you can’t lead”. Maybe it’s someone not believing in you. There are so many situations that could have put you in the box.

Here is how you can get out of “their” box:

1) Change the reality within the box – By that I mean change the mind-set that has put you there. Often times the box was started by others and you began to believe it. Begin to etch out a new mind-set filled with the possibilities that are out there. Truth is…there is truly nothing out there you can’t do if you put your mind to it.

2) Bust out of the box – Chart yourself a new destination…one that is alignment with the future God wants for your life.

3) Create a new box – This is the box you define. One that is not filled with the limits of others or your organization. You can be more than others see in you. You can do more than is possible. Push back the boundaries and believe in yourself…God believes in you.

Today, you have “PERMISSION” to get out of the box. Go ahead break those walls that have been constraining you and chart a new vision.

What are you going to do to get out of their box?

– @JasonCurlee blogs at JasonCurlee.com and is all about influencing and developing others to make a difference in their world. He is currently a Campus Pastor for Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus Christi, Texas.
His blogs are about creating content that ministry leaders can find practical and inspirational as well as sharing the ministry principles and experiences accumulated since 1995. It’s about being innovative, unique, and creating content that can help you make a difference.

Guest Blog: Charlie Loften

“If I want to go the beach on vacation and my family wants to go to the
mountains, how do we decide? Who wins? I am the leader–that means I
win. I get to decide.”

I wish that I could say that such a perspective on leadership is rare,
but it is not. Way too many people approach leadership in their homes,
jobs and elsewhere with an attitude of perks, privileges and winning.

If you are asking the question about who wins, then you have not only
misunderstood what Paul is saying in Ephesians 5 about families, but
everything that Jesus and the entire Bible have to say about leadership.
What Paul says is that being a head is a comparison to Christ being the
head of the church. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for
her.” Ephesians 5:35 (NIV). How did he do that? He sacrificed his will
and his desires in order that he might give life to his Church. The
question of what Jesus wanted was not a consideration in his decision to
empty himself and die for us. If the question had been posed to Jesus,
“What do you want?” after giving a puzzled look I imagine his response
would be, “I want what is best for my church.”

What about us? How often does “What do I want?” come up in our
decision-making and leadership? How often do we try to pass off what we
want as the best decision? “I know it looks like I’m getting what I
want, but really this is best for all of us.” If we are to be the
leaders that God is calling us to be, we need to look to Jesus’ example.
This is the example of a man who washed the dirty feet of his disciples
when no one else would, the man who told us that the first would be last
and the last first, the man who said that even though you call me Lord,
I have come to you as a servant, the man who was tortured and killed in
order to give life to those he loved and led.

Being the leader does mean that you win. You win when you lay down your
desires and life so that those you lead may have life and become the men
and women that God has called them to be. (BTW, you should probably go
to the mountains.)

www.cloften.com
www.twitter.com /cloften

We are having a great time in Ecuador and getting a lot of work done for the local people in Otavalo Ecuador.  We did some major construction and knocked out some classrooms for a local church.  These people have been such a blessing to us.

I have taken the #FistBump to a whole nutha’ level with my Ecuadorian friends.  Here is a short video of the new and improved “Golpe Bomba Explota!”  We took the #FistBump and blew it up.

Today is the last day as we will do “The Day In The Life” of a few families.  Compassion International is a first rate organization and is doing great work in the next generation of world changers.

Guest Blog: Brandon Cox

My seven-year-old daughter has fallen into the habit of declaring what she’s going to do when she’s an adult – things like spend money limitlessly and eat whatever she wants. Why? Because adults get to be in charge and “tell kids what to do.”

We adults know, however, that once you arrive at adulthood there await us all kinds of unforeseen responsibilities, dashing forever our dreams of milkshakes every midnight and video games all day.

This is a parable of leadership. We want it, and then we want more of it. Because when you’re at the top, you get all the glory and you get to tell everybody what to do, right? Again, we are reminded once we get there that leadership comes with responsibility. In fact, leadership is pretty much defined by responsibility.

Irresponsible, immature leaders love the upside of leadership – the fun, the influence, the glory, and the potential raises in pay. But great leaders crave more. Great leaders crave all that leadership has to offer.

The downside of leadership is no fun at all. Let me give you some examples.

Confronting a co-worker about their lack of work ethic.
Fielding the criticism that inevitably comes when you’re in charge.
Making decisions when you never seem to have enough information to go on.
Casting a bold vision when the energy has been sucked out of your sails.

These are the aspects of leadership that are not-so-enjoyable, and there are too many more to list.

Here’s the upside of the downside of leadership though… tackle the tough tasks and you’re an unstoppable leader!

God gives us greater responsibility depending on how well we handle the smaller responsibilities. I don’t know about you but I’m not afraid to say that I want an ever-increasing influence. To think otherwise is to dwell in mediocrity.

So if you want to lead big… get the small things right. If you really want to enjoy the upside of leadership, accept the downside and do it well. Go after all the influence God has to offer you, even when it’s tough.

Brandon Cox is a Pastor, Web Designer, and Blogger who lives in Bentonville, Arkansas with his wife and daughter who are expecting their second child shortly. You can catch him on Twitter @brandonacox.

1. Be Real- Be yourself, don’t try to act like some fake guru, internet expert, coach or millionaire.  You can simply talk about your day, share links, talk about your family, your whereabouts, be funny, inspire others, share business deals, tips & tools, be silly, engaged in the dialogue, observe…  Whatever it is, just Be Real. Remember there are 10 Different Types of People on Twitter.  The beauty of Twitter and social media is that you can just be yourself and people can take it or leave it. No Pressure. of Twitter.  “Do You!  It’s A Statement… Not A Question.”
2. Be Revealed- Share a real picture of yourself as your profile pic and not some weird avatar or some models pic that you swiped off of the Internet.  If you have a catchy, professional, branded logo… they can be used as well.  There are 20 Types of Twitter Profile Pics. and 6 Ways to Make Your Twitter Profile Work… it starts with revealing yourself!
3. Be Responsive- If someone is @replying or DM’ing you with something that requires a response, take a few moments at some point in your day to respond.  Remember all DM’s and @replies don’t require a response; don’t get caught up in the unnecessary back-and-forth 2-way conversations.
4. Be Respectful- Don’t use twitter as a vehicle to have arguments, spew expletives, disrespect other Twitterers… and take some of those extra, extra long 2-way conversations to DM.  Only follow those that you want to follow; understand that you can respectfully choose not to follow those that follow you.  Give credit to others, show some RT love.
5. Be Relevant- Have an understanding of the Twitter culture… In other-words: learn the difference between an @reply  and a DM,  learn the processes and the systems, familiarize yourself with some of the 111 Twitter Tools & Apps. Make Twitter relevant to you, your business, your purpose, your vision, your desire, your need…

Share your thoughts on any of these 5 Be-Attitudes or add additional to the list.  ~Be Real

There is a lot of discussion about Twitter, Blogs and Social Media in general creating Illegitimate Experts, Gurus, Leaders… or iPhony’s. Lets’ look at the definition of Illegitimate- not in accordance with the principles of valid inference. By this definition Twitter, Blogs and social media may be creating illegitimate experts.  The beauty of the Internet and online community is the fact a person does not have to be “in accordance with a valid inference” to be successful.  No one is forced to follow or listen to anyone online, it’s a game of personal choice.

In the online world each individual is responsible for creating their own validation (whatever that means).  My personal opinion is this, “If a person has an audience, voice, knowledge, experience, personality, talent, information, the ability to influence and people are listening, They have been legitimized.”  If the above things are happening, the people are confirming that John Q. Twitterer or Suzy Q. Blogger aren’t iPhony’s.

There have been some very real and very legitimate online leaders that have risen out of the ranks of Twitter, Blogging and Social Media.  If people buy into what you are selling it’s only a matter of time before some degree of success and influence happens.

Traditional would-be experts are no longer the source of legitimization.  The market, the consumers, followers and the online community dictate whether or not a person is the “Real Deal.”  It doesn’t matter what I think or what you think, the only thing that matters is what the people think.  Let’s take a look at a relatively recent product that in my mind was not legitimate, The Snuggie.  Seriously a backwards robe is not a legitimate product.  The Snuggie has sold well over 4 million of their backwards robes; therefore the market and the people legitimized the product.  “Who am I and what do I know?”

Is Twitter & Blogging Creating iPhony’s?  Share your thoughts!

Let us not forget what is still going on in Haiti… Haiti needs our prayers, they need our help and they need Jesus. Share this video with others and Let us not forget what is still going on in Haiti!

I don’t want to be over-simplistic; however I want to get straight to the point with this post.  Life is all about what you make of it.  God already believes in you, you have to learn to believe in yourself.  If You Want It… Go Get It! It’s never to late to be what you wanted to be or what you thought you might have been.

Life is all about perspective and the greatest mistake that a person can make is fear making a mistake.  It’s inevitable that you will make some mistakes, just remember If You Want It… Go Get It!

It’s time that you begin to create success and the road to success starts today, not tomorrow.  Success doesn’t start with the win, it starts with what is going on between the ears.  Stop being fearful, stop making excuses…  If You Want It… Go Get It!

“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” ~Michael Jordan

If You Want It… Go Get It!

Is it that simple?  Share your thoughts!