Jonathan Pearson

2 Reminders For When Leading Gets Tough

Joshua had held his spear toward Ai, as a sign to destroy the city, and did not draw it back until all the people of Ai were destroyed. (Joshua 8:26 NCV)

I love how young Joshua is pictured in this passage of scripture. The whole Achan fiasco had just transpired a chapter earlier and as a result, the Israelites got their tails beat by Ai.

After doing what God had told him to do in punishing Achan and his family, Joshua earned back the favor of God. The next battle with Ai came and Joshua was determined to follow God’s instruction closely to win the battle. As a result, he held the end of his spear up toward Ai until the Israelites had defeated them.

2 things about Joshua 8:26 that we could do well to understand as leaders…

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3 Small Things That Make A BIG Difference

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Several weeks ago, the area I live in had a pretty severe ice storm. Now, when I say “severe” I mean severe for us in the South (I know you northerners scoff at our snow). It was bad enough that most everyone lost power for some period of time, cable was out all over the area, and trees littered the roads and lawns.

My house lost power for several hours and we spent much of the day after most of it had melted cleaning the yard of limbs and trees.

After it was all kinda cleaned up, I started thinking…

It doesn’t take something big to cause BIG effects. Something as small as some frozen rain drops and ice can cause mass destruction for an area.

There are other things much like that. Things that you and I see in our everyday lives that may seem small, but can make a big impact on what it touches.

Here are 3 small things that can make large differences…

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5 Things Leadership Is Not

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Manipulation
Leadership is helping people be at their best while accomplishing something greater than themselves, but it is NOT manipulation. Manipulation is done in an attempt to coax someone to do what we want them to do and feel a way we want them to feel. Manipulation is what happens when a leader (or anyone) uses someone else for selfish gain. It’s not leadership

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What To Do When People Hurt You // A Lesson From Joseph

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Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Can I do what only God can do? You meant to hurt me,
but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done.
(Genesis 50:19, 20 NCV)

For those of us that have read through the Bible or for those of us “good church kids” that have graduated from multiple Vacation Bible School’s, the story of Joseph is one that is extremely familiar. Joseph went form the pit to the palace over the course of his life (at least that’s what the VBS theme that year said, right?). He had a dream, was betrayed by his brothers, left for dead, wrongly accused, jailed and disrespected.

After many years away from the bothers that betrayed him earlier in his life, Joseph finds himself in the position of being over the food and supplies that his brothers desperately needed during a time of famine.

Joseph came face to face with his brothers as the 2nd in command and had every chance (and maybe every right) to offer a little payback on all that had happened to him. Instead, though, Joseph reacts completely opposite from the way we so often do after someone hurts us. Joseph, looks up at his brothers, tears in his eyes I’m sure, and says, “Don’t be afraid.”

In the face of hurt and pain and potential payback, Joseph does 2 things that we can practice with the people that hurt us…

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I’m A Recovering Pharisee

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I’m a recovering Pharisee.

It’s true.

I’m one of those people that likes to “do.” I’m not a sit still, wait for things to happen, and live with the results kind of guy. I’m the go and make it happen, don’t wait, it has to be earned if I want it kind of person.

That’s my personality. That’s who I am. And it’s totally okay. It’s good for those of us that aren’t afraid to work hard. It’s a good thing.

But it gets in the way.

When God convicts me of something or when it’s obvious I fall short, my first reaction is,

What can I do?

When I think about Christ’s sacrifice and his love and mercy in my life, my first response is,

I’ve gotta earn it.

When I see all that’s been given to me and all the blessings in my life, I jump to the thought,

What can I do with it?

You see, I’m learning that love requires a response. Gods love in my life and Christ’s sacrifice requires a response from me. It needs my service and my life.

It requires action, but it deserves my stillness.

God sent Jesus to live, die, and resurrect so that he could be with me, not so that I could just do for him.

The truth is, he doesn’t really need me, he just uses my action because he wants us to be together, he wants me to know him and understand him in new ways through my obedience to him.

But he deserves my stillness… My presence… My attention.

He deserves and wants me to just be with him.

I’m a recovering Pharisee because I want to earn and do.
His love is amazing because it allows me to just sit and be.

We all need to do more sitting and being with Jesus.

4 Things I’ve Learned From T25 Workouts

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Over the last few months, I’ve changed up my running and workout routine a little. After a couple of years of mostly running for exercise, I started looking at something that would vary my routine a little and help me build some muscle. Being an impatient guy and someone who doesn’t really like to work out, I loved when I first saw the T25 workout DVD’s.

I got a copy off of someone of Craig’s List and immediately began to stick to the program (the workout portion at least, still working on the eating well thing).

After about 8 weeks of the program, here are some things I’ve learned that I think we can apply to many areas of our lives…

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3 Reasons Who You’re Dating May Be the One

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One of the most common stats we hear about millennials today is the amount that are living with their parents and remaining unmarried past the age of 28. It’s a fairly common scenario.

And that’s not a bad thing. It’s totally okay to stay at home to save money. It’s okay to move home after college to find a job. It’s not, okay though, to stay with your patents and remain unmarried because you’re afraid of commitment or because you’re not willing to give up some of your selfish behavior.

For those of you that are waiting on Mr or Mrs right or thinking about taking the step to make the commitment, here are 3 signs the person you’re dating could be the one…

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2 Suggestions For When You’re Hopeless

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Hope is one of life’s most basic needs. I know that sounds odd. I know things like food and water are supposed to be in the top of the list, but we should add hope to that list as well.

Those that have lost hope or don’t have hope will tell you just how much of a necessity it is.

Hope is that thing that pushes us forward when we want to give it all up.
Hope is that thing that forces us to hold on when it makes all sense to let go.
Hope is the fuel that allows us to run on fumes.

As long as we have some hope, we still have a chance.

Think about it…

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My iPhone Setup // How One Young Leader Uses His iPhone to Get It Done

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One of my hobbies (I guess it’d be considered a hobby) is iPhone and iPad setups and apps. I don’t know why they intrigue me so much, but it’s something about the entire productivity/workflow structure of iOS that really keeps my interest.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of “Here’s my iPhone or iPad setup” kind of posts. Most of the time, these posts are from someone with some level of expertise in Apple products or productivity. I’m no expert at any of those or at anything tech wise, but I’ve become so interested in how these people use iOS and their Apple products in daily life and work, through trial and error, I’ve set up a pretty good scheme and workflow myself.

Now, before I start to outline some of these, let me remind you that we all have to find what works for us and our uses. Also, if you’re not an apple or iOS user, this post is probably not gonna hold your interest (just keeping it real, please check back tomorrow).

So, here’s my iPhone setup with some description and pictures along the way (if this goes well, I may share my iPad setup later)…

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5 Signs You’re Just A Wanna Be Leader

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The world is full of want to be leaders.

Social media and popular culture has made it easy to consider yourself a “leader” regardless if you actually lead anyone or not. Being a real leader actually requires that you lead a corporation, a non profit, a staff, a family, or yourself well. There are a lot of wanna be’s Out there. This will help you determine if you really are a leader or if you’re just a wanna be.

5 signs of wanna be leaders…

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