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A life with God doesn't have to be boring.
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You were made for adventure.
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It can be a pulse pumping, heart pounding life of purpose.
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Join us every weekend for 30 minutes
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of challenge, hope and encouragement
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to guide you on your spiritual adventure.
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- We've all been forced to pause, reset
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and reclaim our futures in light of the chaos of 2020.
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There's always darkness and adventure
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when you're not sure where you're going.
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Join us for Crossroads Weekend Spark Talks
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and hear from people who will challenge you
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with new ideas to ignite your life.
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- Welcome to Crossroads Church, everyone.
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My name is Alli Patterson,
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and we have something really special for you today.
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It's a series called Spark Talks
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and the folks you're going to hear from today
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have been inspired to live their life differently
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because of this crazy year called 2020
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that we're all living through together.
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There's an author and historian
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who has some fascinating things to say today
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about how leaders react differently in crisis if they have faith.
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I'm all ears for that one.
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And I hope you go away inspired and encouraged yourself.
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- I want you to think of something you've always wanted to try
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but haven't because of fear.
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No, I'm not talking about all of you making bread during quarantine.
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And I see you.
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I'm talking about something way outside your comfort zone
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that you've always postponed but continually think of.
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I'm Megs Gelfgot and I teach women to skateboard.
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They find empowerment on a board with four wheels.
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But my story started before that
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and before the empowerment it was one of pushing through
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isolation, depression, overcoming tragedy and crisis.
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I was living the suburbia success story.
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I was a new mom and while I loved my role,
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I felt like I had lost some of my identity along the way.
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I wasn't was from Cincinnati,
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didn't particularly fit in with the mom crowd.
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So I had this crisis of depression and isolation.
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And I knew that I needed something drastic
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to cut through the status quo of my life.
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I had just accepted that this is what it was, it was fine.
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If life was lackluster, I was the only one responsible
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for the quality of my experiences.
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Don't like something, grow from it.
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So I reached for the first regret I could think of:
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learning to skateboard.
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Let me tell you the fears that held me back
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20 years ago from learning, those are amplified as an adult.
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I'm going to break just everything, all of it.
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But skateboarding would be my bridge to reconnect
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with that wildness within myself,
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lost trying to fit into a suburbia,
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tamed using somebody else's definition of success for my life.
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So my rebellion commenced in a parking lot with a skateboard.
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And while I was awful at first, no surprise,
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I laughed and it was awesome and I felt alive.
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#Live laugh love; huh?
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It was great and I felt this acute sensitivity
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that this is what God created me to be.
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Not fearless, just courageous enough to go for it.
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See when we're kids and trying something new,
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we're more concerned with getting hurt.
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As adults, stepping out means we have to deal
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with people's judgments, possibly rejection.
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My rejection came in the form of friends and family.
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"Megs, can you just cool it with this phase?
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Just take up tennis. You're going to hurt yourself."
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I felt empowered because it wasn't conventional.
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I was a mom who was skateboarding around your neighborhoods.
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What's up, Maderia? I see you.
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And it was in this moment that I would not let critics
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marginalize my growing passion
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because they didn't understand it.
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It took me eight visits to a skate park
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before I was physically brave enough to get out of the car.
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And really, what is my worst case scenario?
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Some kid named Spencer tackles me for being a beginner.
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I birthed a child, I can handle Spencer.
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And the day that I smacked my face open
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I remember thinking, "OK, this is -- this is done.
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We're finished with this now."
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There were real consequences.
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But I had a moment
to see what I was made of
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cutely, right?
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And bravery was going back out on that ledge,
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complete with a bleeding face
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and a heckling audience of teenage boys.
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I happened to be wearing a shirt that said pray on it.
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And I dropped in on my first bowl that day.
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Of you don't know what it is, Google it later. Check it out.
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Skateboarding had me showing up better in all aspects of my life
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because of the confidence I was building.
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I had grit, I had capacity.
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I was uncovering strength within myself
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that was tied directly to pushing through the struggle
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and sometimes there's some pain.
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My relationship with God found a new level of intimacy.
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I grew up in church.
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God is good.
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I thought of Him as being buttoned up, wearing khakis,
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probably liked smooth jazz.
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Relax, I go hard on some Careless Whisper,
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but I was experiencing a God
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who was meeting the desires of my heart
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I didn't even know that I had.
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He was bringing opportunities, community,
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and adventure squarely in my path.
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And the price of admission was I needed to level up.
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I had to demand more for myself, from my relationships,
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for my attitude, for my work ethic.
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I had progress and momentum.
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I was feeling pretty good, so I did what everybody does:
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start an Instagram account.
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And a funny thing happened, this, you know,
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crazy Amazon ginger from the suburbs,
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my story resonated with people.
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I was getting messages from all over the world
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of people who wanted to escape
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but were never brave enough to take a first step.
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So I began to believe in the larger vision
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of using skateboarding to empower
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as this makeshift community grew.
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Now, things were great, they were going well.
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But life is never all green lights for us.
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It's a Saturday morning passed out at home.
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I'm rushed to the hospital.
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From the time that I walked through the doors to Christ Hospital
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to when they had me on a table putting straps on my heart,
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getting ready to shock it, about 10 minutes.
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They found that day that I had a heart condition,
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Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
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and I would undergo heart surgery later that week.
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So as I'm grappling with the implications of this diagnosis
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and thinking about how it would limit my life,
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one of my older sister, Susanna in Arizona,
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she was in a minor car accident on a Friday.
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Sunday they had to call an ambulance,
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take her to the hospital, she was unconscious.
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She would die in the hospital three days later,
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never regaining consciousness.
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Complications from a car accident.
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She would leave behind a four year old daughter
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and a family that was just devastated by her loss.
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I was faced with the fragility of life.
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I was in survival mode.
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You don't have big dreams for yourself when you're just surviving.
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There was a renewed urgency of the now.
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What are you doing now?
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I was not promised tomorrow.
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What are you doing that matters now?
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Fear told me that I was not equipped to lead anything,
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let alone something that had to do with skateboarding.
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But God didn't need me to be the expert in skateboarding
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in order to use me.
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No, He needed my courage to get up in spite of difficulty.
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And I wouldn't let fear make me passive
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because I was not the likely candidate to lead.
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I didn't intend to start a movement,
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but I was willing to see where it went
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because I wasn't in it alone.
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So when we founded Keep Her Wild here in Cincinnati,
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I expected two women to sign up for our Meetup group.
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50 women signed up in the first two days
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with an average age of 35.
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Yeah, the very women I previously felt out of place with,
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it turns out they're pretty awesome.
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Now Keep Her Wild has communities in seven countries
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with retreats designed to get women living
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outside of their comfort zone,
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and more importantly, connected in community.
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It was taking us to places we never could have imagined.
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Things like losing 100 and climbing a mountain,
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skateboarding despite having MS,
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going back to school at 65 years old
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because you want to see what you can do.
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You've still got time.
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Skateboarding was not a phase. It was a lifeline.
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It was the spark that set my life on fire
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and it was having that transformative effect within our community.
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What a way and what a journey from that empty parking lot
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to filming a TED Talk to recording a docu-series on strong women.
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Because if I could learn to kickflip,
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certainly I could handle a couple of people telling me no.
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What? I just need to knock on a few other doors
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and not get bloody in my face? Perfect. I'm on my way.
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What is your skateboard? Because we all need one.
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Hard times are coming. What is your skateboard?
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What have you always wanted to do, but postponed?
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Do it later, do it tomorrow, do it when I lose weight.
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You know what? You're too old, you're not fit enough.
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What would your friends say? Eww.
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So we keep it tucked away,
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a legacy of regret allowing life to manage you.
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Or two, become immune to the fear of someone laughing at you,
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tune out the self-doubt that paralyzes
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and believe completely that you have reservoirs of strength
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to weather any crisis that crosses your door
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and thrive and grow in it because God is going to be with you
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and moving you through the process.
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We don't have to burn in the fires of crisis.
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We can be forged and refined
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and God never abandons us to the flames
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if we're willing to step out of our comfort zone.
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So, your skateboard is out there,
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but it's up to you to find it and go for it.
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You might just find a life transformed
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and a community to call home.
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So be brave, stay wild, and live rad. Thank you.
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Ephesians 2:8 tells us:
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In the middle of a stressful time it can be easy
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to forget these words and instead live like
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maybe we just need to do some work to save ourselves.
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Let's worship today as a reminder
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that God's grace for us is unending.
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- Hi, my name is Stephen Mansfield,
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and I want to talk to you about faith
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and leading in times of crisis.
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There are roles in this world
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that aren't that affected directly by faith.
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A computer programmer might be a better person
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of character, a more patient person if they have faith.
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But how they program a computer
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is not directly affected by their faith.
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However, leadership is not in that category.
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Let me give you a definition of leadership
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and then we can talk about what exactly faith does
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to that role of leadership.
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Leadership is elevating people.
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Leadership is in some form elevating people,
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lifting them out of their circumstances,
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inspiring them to accomplish more.
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And every aspect of that is transformed by faith.
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I'm certainly not saying that
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a person who doesn't have faith can't lead,
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but there's no question that the main characteristics,
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the main traits that lead to leadership greatness
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are faith inspired.
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And this is even more the case during times of crisis
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when most great leadership is measured.
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So let's talk about seven factors, seven features
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of a kind of a faith-based leadership in a time of crisis.
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And I going to tell you right now that
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I'm going to invoke Winston Churchill a great deal.
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He's a hero of mine.
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He tops almost every list of great leaders from the last century.
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And he's a great person to use as a model.
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So what's one of the things, let's say the first thing
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that faith allows us to do in times of crisis?
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Well, the first thing it does is allow us to invoke destiny.
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I'm reminded that when Winston Churchill was appointed
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as the prime minister right before World War II,
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he later wrote, he said, "I felt like I was walking with destiny
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and that all my prior trials
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had been but preparation for this moment."
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That's how we have to think as believers,
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as Christians, as people connected to God,
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because God is a God who sets destinies.
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So a person who is a person of faith in this case
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can do something that a person who's not of faith can't do,
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unfortunately, and that's invoke destiny.
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Most great leaders invoked destiny,
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not only in their own lives, their own souls,
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but also invoke destiny before the people.
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Winston Churchill would stand up before the British people
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during World War II and he would say,
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"We are destined for this fight."
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He believe the British people were destined to fight that
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and he called that out of them.
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So it's not just a technique,
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it's not just a political technique.
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But when you're a person of faith
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leading through a time of crisis, whether it's Coronavirus
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or season of racial upheaval or whatever
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we're dealing with in our generation at a given moment,
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you believe that if you're going through it,
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you're destined for it.
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There's another one and that -- and this is something
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that many leaders don't do.
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I strongly urge you to do it, and that is define victory.
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People battle, people improve for a vision.
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We overcome a pandemic out of vision.
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We do great things.
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We sacrifice great things because somebody
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has painted a vision of victory.
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Winston Churchill used to say to the British people,
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"They will say, this was our finest hour.
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A thousand years from now, they will say
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this was our finest hour
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because this is what victory looks like.
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Victory looks like a free people,
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victory looks like children free to choose their own path.
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Victory looks like this."
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He constantly painted in brilliant verbal colors
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what the future looks like.
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I remember even in my own life when I had a health crisis
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early in my life and someone said,
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"You know, if you overcome this,
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if you'll fight to overcome this,
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you will be so much better off down the road."
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And I stopped giving myself to self-pity
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and rose up against it, believing that the future was great.
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Why? Because someone defined victory.
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The next thing is a leader has to redefine hardship.
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Many people believe that what's hard is evil.
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If it's difficult, it's bad.
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If it's difficult, it's automatically evil
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and should somehow be avoided.
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But that's not the way life works.
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What a great leader's got to do,
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you have to redefine what hardship is.
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You've got to change that sense of suffering.
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00:20:01
It's what every football coach does.
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It's what every trainer does in every sport,
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rather than you thinking, "Oh, if it gets painful
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or hard when I'm lifting weights, I should stop immediately."
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No, what do coaches say?
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"It's the pain that creates the gain."
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The hardship we're going through is the price we pay
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for the victory we're going to have.
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That's nothing more than what is said
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constantly throughout Scripture:
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though all who live godly in Christ Jesus
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shall suffer persecution and hardship.
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You must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom.
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It's a core principle of life.
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There's a fourth thing that is absolutely essential,
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00:20:35
and that is to determine reality.
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00:20:37
I do a lot of advising of leaders.
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I do a lot of advising of companies.
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One of the hardest things is
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00:20:42
to get people to arrive at situational reality.
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What's the truth? What are the facts?
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00:20:50
I'll go in and consult with a leader or a company
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00:20:52
or a cause, and I'll just ask simple questions.
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Give me the big fat crayon number of how much money you have.
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00:21:00
"Oh, we got plenty of money. No problem. No sweat."
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00:21:02
When you actually get down to it, you find out
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00:21:04
they're in financial crisis and nobody has faced it.
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00:21:07
For a Christian or for a person who's connected to God
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00:21:10
in leadership, all truth is God's truth.
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00:21:14
Sometimes people think that if you're a person of faith,
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00:21:16
well, then you smear over reality
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00:21:18
with kind of a smear of faith.
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00:21:19
No. A person of faith who is connected to God,
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the God who created the world, the God of facts,
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the God of reality says, "No, this is reality.
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00:21:28
And we're going to know it and we're going to proceed from here."
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Whatever the situation is, tell me what it is
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00:21:33
so that we with God can begin there.
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00:21:37
So always attempt to determine situational reality.
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00:21:40
It's absolutely critical.
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00:21:43
One of my favorite is the use of humor.
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00:21:46
Now, I'm fully aware that people without faith can use humor
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00:21:49
and some of them use it very, very well.
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00:21:51
But a great student of humor, a scholar of humor
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00:21:54
once said that humor explores the gap between
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00:21:58
what is and what ought to be.
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00:22:00
And the reason a person of faith can use humor in a great way
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00:22:03
is that they are connected to what ought to be.
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00:22:06
And as I've just said about situational reality,
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00:22:08
they have a strong connection to where things actually are.
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00:22:11
So they live in that gap between the way things are,
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00:22:14
but the way things they ought to be.
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00:22:15
And they know that they're meant to lead people that way.
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00:22:18
Quick story from Winston Churchill.
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00:22:20
Winston Churchill, beginning of World War II,
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00:22:22
is visiting the White House.
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00:22:24
He's been accused by a lot of people in Congress
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00:22:27
of inflating what he needed from the United States:
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00:22:29
material, ships, supplies and so on.
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00:22:32
So he's been accused of hiding things.
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00:22:34
President Roosevelt is his advocate,
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00:22:36
but he's being besieged by Congress who doesn't quite trust him.
-
00:22:40
Churchill used to take baths in the middle of the day.
-
00:22:43
So one day he's emerging from the bath.
-
00:22:46
You have to picture Churchill, pink and bulbous,
-
00:22:49
and with a towel wrapped around him, still dripping wet.
-
00:22:52
And Roosevelt is asked to be wheeled in to meet with him.
-
00:22:55
Roosevelt comes into his room,
-
00:22:57
sees that he's emerging from the bath.
-
00:22:59
Roosevelt is kind of an aristocratic New Englander.
-
00:23:01
He said, "Oh, gosh, wheel me out, wheel me out."
-
00:23:03
Churchill goes, "Mr. President," and he pulls the towel away.
-
00:23:09
He says, "I have nothing to hide
-
00:23:11
from the president of the United States."
-
00:23:13
Churchill knew that that would get repeated.
-
00:23:14
He knew that Roosevelt himself would tell that story.
-
00:23:18
He knew that would circulate all through Congress
-
00:23:21
and make the point he was trying to make.
-
00:23:24
And those who are humorless often don't have
-
00:23:27
the impact they could have because
-
00:23:29
they're not helping a people with a smile
-
00:23:31
explore the difference between what is and what ought to be.
-
00:23:35
The sixth one in my in my little list of seven
-
00:23:38
is embody the change.
-
00:23:40
Because faith-based leadership in a time of crisis
-
00:23:46
is not a matter of urging others
-
00:23:48
to do what the leader won't do.
-
00:23:50
The leader ought to be the greatest example of those things.
-
00:23:54
So if we're asking people at a given time of crisis
-
00:23:57
to sacrifice, the leader is the one who has to embody the change.
-
00:24:02
Again, Winston Churchill, my favorite illustration,
-
00:24:04
he was an exemplar.
-
00:24:06
He sacrificed food.
-
00:24:07
He taught, he made he made humorous comments and speeches
-
00:24:10
about, "I sure will be glad when this war is over,
-
00:24:12
I can get back to smoking the good cigars,"
-
00:24:14
or whatever kind of castoff comments.
-
00:24:16
And everybody was dealing with it.
-
00:24:18
Everybody was dealing with a lesser beer,
-
00:24:19
lesser quality of food, you know, no rubber, no other things,
-
00:24:22
you know, things that we had to go to the war effort.
-
00:24:25
But Churchill had fun with that, but he showed the people,
-
00:24:28
he allow the people to see that
-
00:24:29
he was going through the same deprivation that they were.
-
00:24:32
So you embody the change. You live out the values.
-
00:24:36
And then finally, for a faith-based leader going through crisis,
-
00:24:40
there's this very important principle
-
00:24:42
that I call remember the poetry.
-
00:24:44
People are spirits. People are alive.
-
00:24:48
People need to be inspired.
-
00:24:51
People need to have poetry living in their souls.
-
00:24:55
So a faith leader, a leader of faith going through time of crisis
-
00:25:00
understands that people are living off of inner resources
-
00:25:05
as they go through the crisis.
-
00:25:07
They need to be inspired. They need to be encouraged.
-
00:25:10
They need to be shown the higher vision.
-
00:25:14
They need to be reminded of who they are and be able
-
00:25:17
to live out powerfully certain visions and certain values.
-
00:25:21
When we no longer are feeling the poetry, the life,
-
00:25:25
the sacrifice, the devotion.
-
00:25:28
If we're disconnected from the poetry of it,
-
00:25:30
then we're not going to be inspirational leaders.
-
00:25:32
And so we have to remember the poetry.
-
00:25:35
You are going to be living through crisis.
-
00:25:37
It comes to every generation.
-
00:25:39
We're in it now, we'll be in it again.
-
00:25:42
Our generation is crying out for this kind of leadership:
-
00:25:46
people of faith who aren't narrow,
-
00:25:49
but who are passionate and alive and aware,
-
00:25:52
one hand on God and the other devoted to elevating people.
-
00:25:56
So be an elevating leader in a time of crisis
-
00:26:02
and fulfill what you're made to fulfill.
-
00:26:06
- I hope something in you is sparked today
-
00:26:09
and God start something new in your life.
-
00:26:11
I know for me one new thing that I started a long time ago
-
00:26:15
was giving my money as a way to honor God.
-
00:26:18
These Spark Talks and everything else we do at Crossroads
-
00:26:21
is really only made possible because normal people
-
00:26:23
like you and I choose to give our money here
-
00:26:25
to what we see God doing in and through this community.
-
00:26:28
I feel great about that.
-
00:26:29
And if you're with me, well done.
-
00:26:32
If you want to join our team of givers,
-
00:26:35
all you have to do is visit Crossroads.net/give
-
00:26:38
or pick up the phone that I know is right beside you
-
00:26:41
and text the word Crossroads to 313131.
-
00:26:45
And another place that God might just spark something new
-
00:26:49
is our podcast.
-
00:26:50
We don't just do weekends. We do podcasts, too.
-
00:26:52
I actually co-host one with a friend of mine named Latasha
-
00:26:55
and it's all for women.
-
00:26:57
So check out the podcast called IKR
-
00:26:59
and the other great ones that we do too.
-
00:27:03
- Life is crazier than ever these days.
-
00:27:05
You could use some hope, some encouragement, fresh ideas,
-
00:27:08
faith driven perspective and maybe even a little bit of laughter.
-
00:27:12
We've got you covered.
-
00:27:14
Parents, you are not alone.
-
00:27:16
Ladies, it's time for some real talk.
-
00:27:18
No matter who you are, stop settling.
-
00:27:21
No matter what stage of life you're in,
-
00:27:23
Crossroads podcasts have something to offer you.
-
00:27:26
Find them today on all major podcast platforms.
-
00:27:43
- Did you know that snakes could fly?
-
00:27:46
Apparently they can and well, they glide more than they fly,
-
00:27:51
but what's the difference? They're in the air now.
-
00:27:54
You would think this news would surprise me, but it's 2020, right?
-
00:27:57
Hi, my name is Jessica Brown and I'm a morning news anchor.
-
00:28:01
I tell stories.
-
00:28:02
Stories that might surprise you,
-
00:28:04
stories that might inspire you, stories that might
-
00:28:07
just give you resources that you need to know
-
00:28:09
and stories that you may not even want to hear.
-
00:28:12
It's a job that I really love
-
00:28:13
and it really is a responsibility that I take seriously.
-
00:28:17
I work mornings, so if you're wondering what that means for me,
-
00:28:21
I'm up while you're probably in your second dream,
-
00:28:23
2:30 in the morning, I'm awake.
-
00:28:27
I'm up getting ready for work and I'm on air at 4:30
-
00:28:30
for six and a half hours of nonstop news.
-
00:28:34
It's a long day. It's a lot to take in.
-
00:28:38
But the mornings are fun because you get to have a little fun.
-
00:28:41
That's why I like those hours.
-
00:28:43
You get to have some interaction,
-
00:28:45
you get to hang out with your coworkers,
-
00:28:47
and you get to have some moments to smile.
-
00:28:51
Lately, though, there hasn't been a lot of fun happening.
-
00:28:55
There's been nothing but, it seems like, doom and gloom.
-
00:29:00
It feels like the world's ending; doesn't it?
-
00:29:02
You've got the pandemic.
-
00:29:04
You've got crisis after crisis, it feels.
-
00:29:07
And we're in the middle of an election time.
-
00:29:09
It's a lot to take. I get it.
-
00:29:11
And I'm someone who likes order.
-
00:29:12
And I'm not talking about order like
-
00:29:14
organized shoes in your closet order or color coded order.
-
00:29:18
I'm talking methodical order.
-
00:29:20
2020 has been the opposite. It's been messy.
-
00:29:24
Just when we're starting to kind of navigate this,
-
00:29:27
trying to figure things out.
-
00:29:29
We're kind of getting an idea of how
-
00:29:31
things are going to look with this pandemic,
-
00:29:34
boom, George Floyd happens.
-
00:29:38
That one hit me in the gut.
-
00:29:39
That one was heavy for me in an already heavy time.
-
00:29:44
The weekend of the protests,
-
00:29:46
the first round of protests that happened in the city,
-
00:29:48
I remember being at home and being emotionally depleted.
-
00:29:58
It was the worst.
-
00:29:59
I made up my mind right then and there.
-
00:30:00
I said, "You know what? I got to turn it off.
-
00:30:02
I need a break, too.
-
00:30:05
I'm not going to work on Monday.
-
00:30:06
No one's going to make me feel bad about it.
-
00:30:08
I'm not going into work on Monday.
-
00:30:10
I can't go into work on Monday."
-
00:30:12
I felt just so spent Sunday night.
-
00:30:16
I was on the verge of calling my boss to be like,
-
00:30:19
"I'm not coming in."
-
00:30:20
And I felt this nudge that I needed to show up.
-
00:30:26
I just felt like I needed to make sure I was there.
-
00:30:29
I'm the only black person on air
-
00:30:32
in the mornings on my show, my small team.
-
00:30:35
I needed to be there.
-
00:30:37
I needed to be there to ask questions.
-
00:30:40
I needed to be there to give context.
-
00:30:41
I needed to be there to give, you know, background
-
00:30:44
that maybe might have been missed. Don't know.
-
00:30:46
But I know for me, I felt like I needed to show up.
-
00:30:51
So I walked into work on that Monday
-
00:30:52
and I'm not going to lie, I didn't have a great day.
-
00:30:54
I sometimes couldn't even get the words out
-
00:30:58
because how many times can I see
-
00:31:00
that video of that officer's knee in George Floyds' neck?
-
00:31:04
How many times am I going to see that video
-
00:31:05
for six and a half hours?
-
00:31:07
It was difficult, but I'm, to be honest,
-
00:31:12
I'm super grateful I was there.
-
00:31:14
There were so many moments where I had to give context,
-
00:31:18
that I gave context and I gave history.
-
00:31:21
And I've gotten even some responses from so many viewers
-
00:31:23
that were grateful to hear that point of view
-
00:31:26
that they never heard before.
-
00:31:27
I was grateful to be there, even though I don't want to be there.
-
00:31:32
I needed to be a voice in that room and I'm glad I was.
-
00:31:35
Did I take Tuesday off?
-
00:31:36
"Jess, did you take Tuesday off? You must have."
-
00:31:38
No, Tuesday I went to work. Wednesday I went to work.
-
00:31:40
Thursday I went to work. Friday. I went to work.
-
00:31:43
I felt like I needed to be there.
-
00:31:44
One thing I will say I did on Friday,
-
00:31:46
I started to unplug social media.
-
00:31:50
You know, if there's something that's triggering you,
-
00:31:52
something that's making you feel panicky, edgy,
-
00:31:56
that's something you have to turn off.
-
00:31:57
That is the sign to unplug.
-
00:32:01
And I know it might be weird for a news anchor
-
00:32:03
to tell you to unplug receiving information,
-
00:32:06
but do it if you're at your limit.
-
00:32:09
I'm big on getting information.
-
00:32:11
I'm big on seeking out information.
-
00:32:13
I do not believe in living in a bubble
-
00:32:14
that nothing's happening in this world.
-
00:32:16
You've got to know what's going on in this world.
-
00:32:18
But you also need to be equipped to handle
-
00:32:20
when it's being thrown at you from 17 different directions.
-
00:32:23
I remember when I mentioned that
-
00:32:25
I did not want to go to work that day and went anyway.
-
00:32:29
If it was up to me, you know, I would be --
-
00:32:31
I'd be in bed and having my moment.
-
00:32:33
But I felt like I needed to show up because
-
00:32:36
I really feel like it was bigger than me
-
00:32:38
why I was feeling that nudge to be there.
-
00:32:41
And if you are having a day where you're like,
-
00:32:44
I just can't go to work or I can't show up for this
-
00:32:47
or I can't do this, and you're feeling that nudge to be there,
-
00:32:53
there could be a bigger reason than you can imagine
-
00:32:56
that God has for you in that moment.
-
00:32:58
And you don't know why, you know, these things happen.
-
00:33:02
Why do I have to be uncomfortable in this moment
-
00:33:04
or why am I being pushed to do that?
-
00:33:06
Sometimes you've got to fight through it
-
00:33:07
for a bigger purpose beyond you.
-
00:33:09
And I'm here for the purpose.
-
00:33:11
or what impact that may have had.
-
00:33:14
I mean, I know some.
-
00:33:15
I've gotten some responses from some folks
-
00:33:17
who learned some things they didn't know
-
00:33:20
just from their own experience just because I showed up that day.
-
00:33:23
So, I mean, I'm glad I was there.
-
00:33:26
And maybe you'll be glad you push through too.
-
00:33:32
- Sometimes the world just feels like
-
00:33:33
it's spinning all around us.
-
00:33:35
I felt that way myself a lot this year.
-
00:33:38
That's exactly why we wrote the next song
-
00:33:40
that we're going to sing together, to say out loud,
-
00:33:43
to remind ourselves and to tell God,
-
00:33:45
"We trust You to do things that we are not capable
-
00:33:48
of doing and we know that You are able."
-
00:37:22
I don't know about you, but I'm actually really grateful
-
00:37:24
for some of the stories I've heard and some of the people
-
00:37:27
that have spoken during our Spark Talks this year,
-
00:37:30
but it doesn't have to end here.
-
00:37:32
If you missed one or you heard one that you love
-
00:37:34
and you want to share it with friends,
-
00:37:35
you can go to Sparktalks.net
-
00:37:38
and find every talk you've heard during the series.
-
00:37:41
Share away.
-
00:37:43
The best way to engage with Crossroads on a regular basis
-
00:37:47
is actually to download the Crossroads app.
-
00:37:49
I'm in there every day.
-
00:37:50
You can read the Bible with our community.
-
00:37:52
You can pray for one another.
-
00:37:54
It's just a great way to have a part
-
00:37:56
of your spiritual journey happening right in your phone,
-
00:37:59
right in your hand all the time.
-
00:38:02
If you want to engage with a real person in our community,
-
00:38:05
you can go to Sparktalks.net and actually find
-
00:38:08
a real guide to walk you into the next part of your adventure.
-
00:38:13
And I don't know what that's going to be.
-
00:38:14
I don't know what 2020 holds, but I feel better prepared
-
00:38:18
as a result of the Spark Talks series.
-
00:38:20
So join us next week for whatever is coming next.
-
00:38:26
- Thanks for watching.
-
00:38:27
and I want to help you go on your spiritual adventure.
-
00:38:31
We have a community of people that gathers online
-
00:38:33
to go on an adventure together through processing
-
00:38:36
the weekend message and applying it week in and week out.
-
00:38:40
We call this weekend follow up groups
-
00:38:42
and you can join one today from anywhere you are
-
00:38:44
by heading to Crossroads.net/onlinecommunity.
-
00:38:48
It might just be the thing that takes you
-
00:38:49
to the next place on your adventure with God.
-
00:38:52
We'll see you next week.