Life, death, and Steve Jobs

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ If the answer has been ‘no’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” -Steve Jobs

A week ago, the world lost a visionary legend. A creative genius. An inspiration for all with a dream and heart for building and creating. This guy forever changed technology and culture as we know it.

Many of you can guess who this is. Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs designed the Macbook Pro that I’m typing on. The earphones in my ear. The iPod in my lap. The charger in the wall. (wish I could say my phone, but I don’t have an iPhone…. I also wish I could say an iPad.)

This guy was the real deal with a happy meal.

He taught us about design

“Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.” -Steve Jobs

He taught us about Innovation and Leadership

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” -Steve Jobs

He taught us about failure.

“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” -Steve Jobs

He taught us authenticity

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” -Steve Jobs

This was one successful dude. He has the best products in every area of technology. I mean think about it. If money was no object, would you rather have a Mac or a PC? An iPod, or an Mp3 player? An iPad or a tablet? An iPhone or Droid? Lets be real, we would all choose the Apple product. Why? Because not only do they look great, they get the job done and they do it right. I’ve never met a person who looks forward to every time a some virus software scanner comes up on their desktop.

I was in NYC last week. The day after Steve Jobs died.

It was crazy crowded. People giving their tributes. Their goodbyes. And their Apple’s.

There is a lot we can learn from people like Steve Jobs. What stood out most was the inspiration he gave to think different and dream big.

Have you ever noticed that his products stand out? They are different than every other product its competing against. Looks different, operates different, feels different. Even his marketing is different. Apple commercials, ads and bilboards have always been my favorite. They are DIFFERENT. They are simple, yet complex and always consistent. Insanely creative. Creative song, creative wording, creative everything. White background, splash of color, which is the product, and the logo. But what makes it so great is that it is DIFFERENT. Apple is DIFFERENT than other products.Steve Jobs never gave up on the dream. He knew what he wanted and accomplished it with perseverance and persistence. Have you ever noticed that he didn’t settle for less? He went all out, all in. All Apple’s products are top of the line. He DREAMED BIG in his innovations. He worked hard at what he did and it payed off.

 

Died at age 56. Such a short life, and accomplished so much. I don’t know if he is a Christian. I’ve heard some different things about his views as far as religion goes. I don’t know for sure because I’ve never heard him say those things. I’ve never heard him say he was a Christ follower. I don’t know. But what I do know is that all his accomplishments, all his successes is absolutely worthless if he wasn’t working to honor God. It means nothing if he wasn’t. Steve Jobs didn’t seem like he was one to waste his time. He seemed like he managed his time and set his priorities. But if his time and priorities did not put God first, he wasted it. Every second of every minute of every day he spent here on this earth was wasted. It will all fade if its not powered by Christ.

I’m not saying he is or isn’t Christian because I am not Steve Jobs. But I can assure you that Apple products will mean nothing in heaven. Because who needs an iPad when your at the feet of Jesus?

I know thats not a very popular way to end a tribute, but its the truth.

Something to think about: Are you working for God’s glory, or something else? What is your life driven by? What’s first? What are your top priorities and time invested into?

-Ivey Wisener

Faith in Defeat

Last week this is the topic I spoke on in FCA. Faith in defeat.

Former Texas quarterback Colt Mccoy was in his senior year of college. It was his last chance to accomplish his goal since he was a freshman. His goal was to give his team a National title. Senior year, Colt Mccoy led his team, undefeated, to the National Championship. But his Championship ended in 2 minutes and 14 seconds. In only the 5^th play of the game, Mccoy faced a shoulder injury that took him out of the game.

5 years of hard work he invested in. 5 years he spent working towards this. And it all came crashing down in a matter of minutes. 5 years of work, gone just like that. Only 2 minutes and 14 seconds into the game. There was nothing he could have done to stop that from happening. It was out of his control.

But McCoy says something remarkable after the game. He says:

“I don’t know why this happened. But I’ll never question God. I’ll never ask why. I am a man of faith. God is in control of my life and I’m standing on the rock.”

That blew me away. THAT is faith.

Reminded me of Job. Everything was taken away from Job, His possessions, his livestock, his house, his servants and even his children. The only thing he had left was his wife but she was of no help at that point because she told him to go curse God and die.

Job remained faithful to God in the midst of the defeat he faced. It would have been easy for Job to give up. It would have been easy for Job to turn his back on God. But he didn’t.

Instead Job said this “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. 
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” –Job 1:21

Its incredible how much Colt Mccoy resembles Job in what happened to him and how he responded.

He realized he had been given a greater opportunity to model faith and give glory to God through his disappointment.

It’s easy to praise God when we win, in the good times. But can we praise God in the hard times? Can we have faith when we are faced with defeat or left with nothing?

It would have been easy for Colt Mccoy to praise God while he was healthy and holding a trophy. But its not as easy when he isn’t holding a trophy and he isn’t healthy. I think what Colt Mccoy said, by praising God in the midst of defeat, was 1,000 times more powerful, but at the same time, it was probably 1,000 times harder.

At one time or another, life will bring us all to this point. We’re all going to be surprised by painful situations that we don’t plan. When those times come, how will we respond? Will we turn on God in anger for not giving us what we wanted? Or, will we respond out of humility and faith, knowing that our Lord IS in control and that He loves us regardless of situation and circumstance. Will we truly believe that the truth in Romans 8:28? That He works in all things for our good, even when we can’t see or understand His plan?

Whatever you are going through today—whatever disappointments or losses you are experiencing, take the opportunity to evaluate your faith and to praise God. Ask Him to help you trust Him and be a model of faith to those around you. The world is watching.

Civilized or UN-Civilized?

Gave this message to an FCA this past Friday. Thought I’d share it with you guys.

A couple weeks ago I had a surgery on my stomach. I spent that next week in recovery. I couldn’t do anything but lay on the couch. I watched a bunch of movies. My favorite movies have always been the Rocky Balboa movies. So me being me, I was going to watch all 6 that week.

I was on Rocky 3 and it was the scene after Rocky un-retires to go back and defend his heavyweight title against Clubber Lang. Mickey is warning him against it, and Rocky was saying,

“He’s just another fighter.”

Mickey says: “No he ain’t just another fighter. This guy’s a wrecking machine and he’s hungry. You ain’t been hungry since you won that belt! He goes on to explain: “Well Rock, let’s put it this way–3 years ago you were supernatural, you was hard and you was nasty and you had this cast-iron jaw…but then, the worst thing happened to you that could happen to any fighter… you got civilized!”

You got civilized…. This clip and that statement got me thinking. I was laying on the couch thinking about how that is so relatable to us as Christians. We get civilized. We get comfortable in our faith. For many of us, we get to the point in our walk with God where we just start coasting. We lost our edge. We just aren’t pursuing the kingdom of God as we once did. We’re not fighting the good fight with the passion and intensity that we started with. We got civilized!

We used to believe whatever God said, no matter who argued or tried to interrupt our faith. We fought for the ground that God gave us. We didn’t shrink back at anything. We saw the devil behind all evil and declared war on him, and on all things that got in the way with our walk with God. But somewhere along the line, we thought it was okay to take our life back. We had served long enough. Sacrificed enough. Gone to church enough. We paid our dues.

Ever been to a camp or retreat or heard some sermon that changed you? But somehow 2 or 3 or 4 weeks along the line we loose that passion. We loose that drive. The motivation to change something or do something for Christ is gone. And we go right back to the same person we were before. We go through the motions. We may or may not attend church but if we do, we are a different person Sunday than we are Monday. Kind of like Mickey said to Rocky, “You ain’t been hungry since you won that belt”

But to get back to that authentic faith, that faith changes lives and changes the world; we have to return to our first love.

I like what Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live. But the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God—who loved me and gave Himself up for me!”

4 ways to get Un-Civilized for Christ:

1. Lose the shame.

Paul said in Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God.” We can’t be ashamed to be bold and share our faith, openly and humbly.

2. Lose the fear. Don’t fear what people think of you. Matthew 10 says Don’t fear man, fear God who holds your eternal life in His hands.
3. Lose the popularity contest. You don’t have to be popular to be bold in your faith. Jesus wasn’t even socially favored by most people.
4. Be insane for Christ. Your friends might think you look weird if you step up to pray or share your faith with others but don’t let that stop you. And if they make fun of you, they probably aren’t good friends. Just pray for them and lead by example. Besides, Christ was mocked and He didn’t care how He looked on the cross.

Christ was never civilized for us. There is no reason we should be civilized for Him. We have to get back that edge. We used to have the cast-iron jaw. We used to be supernatural for Him. Get it back. Become un-civilized. Because one of the worst things a Christian can do is get civilized.

5th Quarter. Leadership: What I learned.

I’m a leader or officer in my school’s FCA.

A few weeks ago I planned a 5^th Quarter to kickoff this next year in FCA. This event took place this past Friday.

This event was the first event I planned all by myself. Honestly I thought it would be easier to plan an event. You have to get things approved, schedule things, get people to help, promote it, set up and the list goes on. I always knew that planning an event is a lot of work, but I guess I never grasped the magnitude of it.

Yes it was a lot of work, but it turned out great. TrueNorth sponsored the costs of the event and I got a speaker/band pretty quick. The process is what took longest. The behind the scenes work, that no one thinks about but are vital to the event itself. But it was those very things that taught me the most. I learned so much about leadership through out the process of planning this event.

Here are some things I learned:

• Leaders must pursue their dream, stay persistent and never give up. If every leader gave up the first time they heard the words “it isn’t possible” then where do you think we would be? Pursue the dream you have in your mind that no one else understands. I find a lot of times people don’t understand my ideas or don’t believe it can happen. Draw it out. Explain it. Show them you mean what you say. Don’t give up when they don’t understand, because almost every time you go to present an idea they won’t understand. Stay persistent, because when you give up on your dream, why would anyone else what to make it happen.
• Leaders are the first ones there, and the last to leave. Hours before an event you are there setting up. Getting ready. Preparing. Hours after the event is over you are there taking everything down. Cleaning up. Leaving the place cleaner than it was before. And all the time in between you are constantly working. Serving. Doing ministry.
• Leaders must be willing to do all the work. If you are the main leader or dreamer (the one with the idea) then you must be willing to take on the work. You can’t expect people who don’t have the vision that you do to take on the work that requires the vision. Trust me, it won’t happen. If they aren’t on the same page as you are, then how are they going to take on the job you are asking of them? Sometimes that’s not even the issue. Sometimes you are the problem. I realized I was the problem in some of this. You have to be COMPLETELY CLEAR on what you want, and when you want it. Some people come across as too bossy and others come across as too nice. I think in many cases I came across as too nice. I learned that sometimes if you really need that person to do that job you can’t ask them to do it. You have to tell them to do it. And you have to be clear on it. This method doesn’t apply to every situation. Bottom line is, don’t wait around for it to happen. Make it happen. Weather that’s telling the person to do it, or you doing it yourself.
• Leaders must acknowledge everyone’s jobs, consider them equal and encourage. The person cleaning up after the event is over is just as important as the person who planned the event in the first place. Every job is equal. As leaders, we must stress this. If the person serving does not feel important then they will most likely never serve for you again. Encourage all of your workers. Encourage all of your leaders to live up to their full potential. Let them know they are important. Let them know they are needed. Giving them encouragement and making them feel important will not only make them feel good, it will help you out a lot. Next time you ask them to help out, they will be more willing to help because you encouraged them last time. A word of encouragement goes a long way.
• Leaders must stay positive, eliminate excuses and NEVER EXPECT FAILURE. Think about what kind of message your followers and other leaders receive when you choose to be negative, make excuses and fear failure. When you send that message you have already given up. If a leader displays negativity, then the followers will display even more negativity. If a leader makes excuses, then the followers will make even more excuses. If a leader expects failure then the followers will expect failure and then it is over. Don’t voice any negativity or excuses because that just ignites the fire. If I had voiced the excuses I thought, then this event would have never happened. If I expected and feared failure then I would not be writing this post today. Eliminate any and every excuse. Never be negative. And never, EVER expect failure.
• Leaders make mistakes. I know all that seems like a lot of work. I’m not gonna lie, it is. I know it seems hard. And it is hard. Leadership is never easy. I know that it seems impossible to do everything I just wrote. It is impossible to plan an event perfectly. You will make mistakes. You will mess things up. I made plenty of mistakes. Everything I wrote and more were mistakes I made during this process. But you have to be able to take your mistakes and learn from them.

I could go on forever on the things I have learned through this process. I have grown as a leader through this. I learned things that are vital to leadership that I can now use the rest of my life. None of this is easy, but trust me. It pays off. It payed off for me and it will pay off for you. Never give up!

Inconsistant Blogger

While reading someone else’s blog today, I thought when was the last time I posted on my blog?
And then I realized. Its been a year. Not just around a year. One whole year.
Today is August 15th. The last time I posted was August 15th. Of last year.
This isn’t the first time I’ve done this. I’ve done this multiple times.
I actually made a brand new blog (this one) thinking I would start back fresh and blog consistently. That lasted about a month.
I want to blog and I want to blog consistently.
So I’m going to try once a week. Every week I’ll make a new post.
We’ll see how long it lasts.

-Ivey Wisener

Tags: blogger, inconsistency

What Does it Take to be Great?

This video is all about Greatness. When making this video, 4 names came to mind. Michael Jordan, Billy Graham, The Beatles and Muhammad Ali. Michael Jordan is the greatest player in basketball history. Period. He’s, debatable, the greatest player in all of sports. No Kobe or LeBron or any other 3rd name can pass him. Next, Billy Graham. He’s the best Christian evangelist of all time. He has impacted so many lives through his preaching and by just hearing him speak you can feel the presence of God. The stuff he says is just truly amazing. Now, The Beatles. I believe that they are the greatest band in all of music. Ever. Rolling Stones magazine says they are the greatest and I don’t doubt it. They changed the music industry forever. Muhammad Ali. Well, you have to admit he is the greatest boxer if not the greatest athlete in the sports world. He raised the bar for boxing. I think it would be hard to top his athleticism and sportsmanship. You don’t have to be a fan of these guys but you gotta respect them for all they have done. Each one of them has/had so much impact on whatever it is they may do.

This video is a sermon bumper for a sermon on Greatness.

Tags: Billy Graham, Greatness, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, The Beatles

I AM

This is a video I actually made for someone. I was given the words, but the rest I did. I used some graphics, edited them and made fonts for each image. I did all animations as well. I know it’s kind of simple, but I figure someone else may be able to use it for something. Pass it on.

REMEMBER!! You can find me on Facebook and Youtube. Every video I have here is on Youtube as well.Links are below all ya gotta do is click!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Iveyw23

www.facebook.com/iveywisener

“With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility”

Ever seen Spiderman? That’s the quote. I changed up the audio and shortened that old Authentic Faith Sermon Bumper. And of course added the clip, and fade out. It tied into one of my dad’s sermons, that’s why I used the clip. The audio is actually clips to the Newsboys new single “Born Again”. I thought the track geared better with the Spiderman clip then what I was using before. If you ever do a sermon series through the book of James, I got your vids right here!! Hahaha

Tags: Authentic Faith, Faith, James, Sermon Bumper, Spiderman

Forgiven

Hey everybody, just made this brand new video about a week ago. I put in the Sanctus Real song Forgiven off the Pieces of a Real Heart Album. This video can be used however you want it to, it’s a little over 3:30 so it can be used for most anything. Verses I used: 1John 1:9, Ephesians 1:7, Daniel 9:9 , Colossians 1:13-14. Watch it. Share it.

Facebook, YouTube

-Ivey Wisener!

Tags: 1John 1:9, Colossians 1:13-14, Daniel 9:9, Ephesians 1:7, Forgiven, Pieces of a Real Heart, Sanctus Real

Authentic Faith

This is a sermon bumper I made for a new series at my church (TrueNorth) on the book of James. It’s about 40 seconds long so it would be best used right before the sermon. The verse I used in this video is James 2:17. The website in the link has various versions of the verse. I used the NLT (New Living Translation) version of the verse. Discover a faith that works. Enjoy.

Hope you all enjoy the vid. I’m out.

–Ivey Wisener

My Facebook, My YouTube, TrueNorth

Tags: Authentic Faith, Faith, James, Sermon Bumper, TrueNorth