this blog will cease to be updated after this post.

Please visit the new blog at http://jamierowe.com/shout

If you subscribe to this blog, you will need to re subscribe thru the new site.

I’m doing a soft launch..so think of this area as under construction…I still want to have a strong presence for myself on the web that will be able to benefit from the limited time I have on personal projects these days…

Holla-

jamie

http://jamierowe.com/shout

If you are in any kind of leadership or have a gift of influence, check this out:

The differences between leading and controlling are almost exact opposites:

Characteristics of leading people:

• Encourages creativity
• Develops people rather than programs
• Builds healthy relationships with followers
• Models a healthy way
• More focused on needs of followers
• People follow by choice
• Empowers people

Characteristics of controlling people:

• Stifles personal growth
• Discourages creativity
• Keeps followers at a distance
• Insists on a set way
• More focused on needs of the controller
• People follow by force
• Devours people

 

Original post by Ron Edmondson is found here

She makes us happy around here..We are all crazy about her!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=255277480114

70 minutes into 2010 right now in the Central Time Zone..so far, so good!

Random thoughts:

• This is the year of getting serious about fitness. I never followed through in the earlier decade!
• I have had great peace this holiday season knowing that God is truly good. May that continue to be my waking thought…
• I am so glad to have Peyton Isabella! She has been a blessing to our whole family…
• I like being around Christians who are painfully honest and understand they are human beings in need of grace…
• I hope this track I’m working on called “Holy Water” will become a Guardian song..but if not, I’ll pay for it to be recorded and hopefully be able to give it away…
• Speaking of pay, I hope to be paid on time, every time this year…it resolves unnecessary stress and hustle…
• I really enjoy fellowship with everyone at The GBC…a diverse group of folks who I’m happy to be with on this journey…
• May 2010 be the year more churches drop the ‘traditions of men’ and plug into the truth of the Gospel of Jesus…
• I want to write a book..and my grammar skills suck so I’ll need a good editor…not totally sure of content/direction yet…
• I want to be considered the best in my niche field for social media…I enjoy success..immensely!
• It’s been great to reconnect with some school friends on facebook..if I’m honest, when I moved to L.A. in 1990, I wanted to leave my Indiana days in the past forever..but then we got an insane deal on our house and ended up moving back here in 1997..but I never felt it was permanent..and then in 2009 I finally found some joy in living here again…before then, I felt like I had betrayed myself for coming back…but this post needs to be it’s own blog..or maybe the aforementioned book…
• I hope (somehow) the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq end soon…it’s like fighting Colombia or Peru to stop drug trafficking…our war is with radical Islam…and that has no location..I feel like we are using old methods to fight a new enemy…. bankrupting ourselves in the process…
• Does Dick Clark understand that he is not the ideal spokesman for the televised ABC New Year program? Let it go…
• I ate too much of Heather’s insanely good chili tonight…
• The CRUNCH DVD from Firefest will be out soon…the rough cut I have watched look killer!
• Seth Godin, Rick Warren, Reverend Run(from DMC), Jack Canfield, Tim Ferris, Stephen Brewster, Shaun King, Frank Viola and a few others continue to make my world better with their blogs and tweets…
• I’m looking forward to getting a full nights sleep soon…and the metabolic benefits that will bring..thank God for a great physician like Dr. Manello-Ibay and her staff!
• I have allowed many relationships to become idle because I’ve been too busy to keep in touch..it’s a reality..but I hope to change that in 2010!
• Are you living or dying?…

Holla!

jamie

First, a scripture:

Matthew 15:8-9 (New International Version)

⁸” ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
⁹They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ “

Question: Does your church teach the saving grace of Jesus Christ?….or rules taught by men?

Question: Do you worship out of affection or out of obligation/fear?

Question: Is your church a “hospital for the sick” ? …or a “museum for saints” ?

Question: When sitting in the sanctuary on Sunday morning..do you view the brothers and sisters around you through the compassionate lens of Jesus?

Question: Is the church service a time of worship?..or an impersonal meeting with a speaker and some songs?

If you answered those 5 questions completely honestly….What now?

Truly God is good. Dare to find out for yourself!

jamie

The word “criticism” showed up on my radar very randomly a few times today.

Constructive criticism is a wonderful thing. It is rooted in encouragement. But all to often criticism is merely the byproduct of bitterness & jealousy.

I wanted to share some quotes that contain some practical wisdom:

“To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
- Elbert Hubbard

 

“There has never been a statue erected to honor a critic.”

- Zig Ziglar

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”
- Winston Churchill

“To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.”
- Theodore H. White

 

Good words of encouragement embedded here don’t you think? Making waves is never without drama.

We’ve all dealt with negative types whose ultimate goal is to bring us down with excessive or unfounded criticism. So how are we to deal with it as brothers and sisters in Christ?  Luke 6:27-28 offers some great direction:

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…”

I want these words to encourage and uplift you! It will save you trouble in the big picture. My own story goes somewhat like this…

Honestly, I had never really dealt much with malicious criticism from fellow believers until I served as a youth leader a few years ago.  While the majority were very supportive and encouraging, there were a few who seemed to “look for the spec” at every opportunity. I gave those words too much power.I confess that I didn’t hold onto Luke 6:27-28 as I should have and even became resentful. Looking now, I see a bigger picture…maybe I was the scapegoat for feelings of parental failure that they were experiencing…maybe they were in the midst of the fight of their life…I don’t know. But I do know this. I have forgiven and moved on. I only wish I could hit a reset button and use that time and energy to pray for those critics with the compassion of Christ.

You matter..You have value..You are loved passionately by an awesome God!

-jamie

PS- For church leaders- If your ministry is growing..hold onto Luke 6:43  : “For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit

I have to admit that this past week (longer if I’m being really honest) I’ve been feeling pretty depressed. Yes, I do suffer from clinical depression and take medication for it..that does the trick to manage it usually..but I’ve had a feeling of late that I just can’t seem to shake.  Yesterday though, I had a moment where I thought I had figured out my core issue: It’s a lack of faith. Faith is an easy thing for a lot of people…but for me, it’s always taken effort. I think it stems from low self image issues I have..often times I still feel like that awkward, chubby, poor red-headed kid that used his sense of humor as a defense mechanism. To this day I still have trust issues, even with those closest to me…and it’s not based on anything real. It’s just my mind-set of “I wrestle with accepting myself..so they must have trouble accepting me too”

Gosh..just reading this..it’s ending up nowhere near where I planned when I wrote the first line. I’m cool with that..hope you are too

The struggle with self also gets projected onto God. I know theologically (and in my heart) that God loves me..but I’d live a far better existence if I could also accept that God LIKES me too…I think a lot of people struggle with that. It keeps me thinking about self..and truthfully, I’d like to spend more time thinking of others..and serving them they way they often do me. I read Twitter sends from people who just want to lift others up.. and I’m so drawn to those items and people..then I turn around a tweet how frustrated I am that a check isn’t in the mail or something selfish that does nothing to lift others up….and it doesn’t get me paid any sooner. It just adds more empty info to the already cluttered internet.

Check out Mark 9: 14-29

Verse 24 speaks to me the most…

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

I relate to that soooooo much! I do believe in Christ..with all my heart. But that doesn’t keep me from having odd doubts when I read semi convincing outlandish claims of those into Mithraism or other eastern religions… Or wondering how come sin entered the picture so quickly after creation..was it planned? If so, are we really to blame?..etc Questions maybe most don’t ask..but I do all the time. Some folks can’t hang with that. I tend to question everything.

With that said, I still take comfort in the 3 dimensional analogy: Me trying to fully understand God is like a drawn “stick figure” trying to understand me…a stick figure wouldn’t be able to grasp 3 dimensions..it’s not a part of their world. I don’t think I can fully understand the dimensions of God. One day though…

Ok..this has really rambled and maybe that’s what I get for blogging at 1:30am…but I just want to say this:

I’ve been feeling down…but I think it’s due to my lack of faith that God really loves me as deeply as I know He does. If I don’t have that settled, I don’t have a foundation for anything else. I DO believe..help me overcome my unbelief! It’s cool..when the father of the boy said that to Jesus..he didn’t bag on him and say “What????? where’s your faith?!”..no, he heard the man’s heartfelt request and performed the miracle and healing.

I WANT TO ACCEPT GOD’S ACCEPTANCE OF ME!

I WANT TO BE USED BY GOD!

I WANT TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS!

I WANT TO FIND MY PEACE COMPLETELY IN HIM!

I WANT TO BE A LIGHT!

I want to go to bed…

Goodnight y’all..thanks for reading!

-jamie

Over the past 10-20 years, it’s become very "un PC" to say Merry Christmas as to not "offend" those of other faiths.

So imagine my surprise seeing this weekend’s BEST BUY sales flyer with the greeting "Happy Eid Al-Adha".

Eid Al-Adha is- according to Wikipedia:

Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى‎ ‘Īdu l-’Aḍḥā) "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is a holiday celebrated by Muslims (including the Druze) worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God.

Eid al-Adha is the latter of two Eid festivals celebrated by Muslims, whose basis comes from the Quran.^[1] Like Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha begins with a short prayer followed by a sermon (khuṭba).

So, yes, I do understand that in America, we have freedom of religion. They have the same protection to follow Islamic principles the same as I’m allowed to profess Christ as Savior and King…but the double standard of PC censorship is a complete joke.

So, I look forward to seeing Best Buy proclaim "Merry Christmas" in an ad in the next few weeks. If they don’t..I’ll think twice about making a purchase there in the future!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas!

jamie

jamie

Source

-jamie