WithoutWax.tv by Pete Wilson | Archive | June, 2011
Archive - June, 2011

If At First You Don’t Succeed Try, Try Again

June 30, 2011 in Leadership with 21 Comments

You’ve probably never heard of George Weiss. However, he served as a real source of inspiration for me today.

Mr. Weiss is an inventor. In fact, over the last 50 years his creativity has produced more than 80 inventions, many of which are piled up in the basement of the Brooklyn, NY, home in which he’s lived for the last 45 years.

According to MSNBC…

His inventions have won rave reviews from his friends and family, yet he was unable to get companies to invest in them. “Everywhere I’d go I’d get rejected,” he told TODAY.com. “They have form letters at all the companies. I just couldn’t get a foot in the door.”

But all that changed when a small company named Ideas Never Implemented agreed to invest in a word game Weiss came up with. Fittingly, its name is a synonym for “tinker”: “Dabble.”

Dabble is now sold in 50 stores nationwide. And recently it won the 2011 Game of the Year Award from Creative Child Magazine.

This article reminded me  to never give up. I think so many creatives give up because they don’t have quick success.

Keep dreaming.

Keep writing.

Keep creating.

Keep persisting.

Keep brainstorming.

Weiss had a little advice for other creatives with big dreams. “Don’t create a product just because you think it will make you rich. Work on something that’s meaningful to you,” Weiss advised. “If you do that, you’re more likely to find success.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Can We Really End Poverty?

June 29, 2011 in Missions, Spiritual Growth with 22 Comments

What thought comes to your mind when you read this?

We CAN end poverty.

While I think most people like the idea of fighting poverty when it’s convenient, I seriously doubt many of us actually think it’s beatable.

What if I told you I believed it is possible for the Church to end extreme poverty in our lifetime?

What If I told you I believed it is time for our low expectations in the church to change?

I know the statistics are staggering and at times overwhelming but here’s the amazing news: extreme poverty is ending. In just 25 years the percentage of people living in extreme poverty has been cut in half. (52% to  26%)  And every statistic is showing momentum toward zero in our lifetime.

There’s an awesome new movement called 58.  I don’t know if you saw the USA Today article on this Monday, but I’m so excited this is getting national headlines. It’s not about coming around a brand but under the only banner that really matters – the name of Jesus Christ. And so we are coming together.

Do me a favor and check this out.  Just CLICK here for more information about 58.  “Like” the facebook page and then RT this post. Let’s see if we can’t get behind this as a community.

We CAN end poverty.

A Perspective Bomb

June 28, 2011 in Spiritual Growth with 58 Comments

Last Thursday night I took one of my weekly trips to Lowe’s. I can’t even remember exactly what I needed but there’s something about Lowe’s that I just love. I could spend hours walking around that place coming up with things I “need.”

After I found what I was looking for I headed to the outdoor checkout counter which I thought would be faster. As I rounded the corner with my one, maybe two items I saw the lady in front of me with several (as in 4 or 5) push carts full of flowers and plants. I knew it was a mistake to get behind her, but I was already committed and somewhat stuck.

I had NEVER seen one individual buying so many flowers and one time. I thought, “Surely they have a special line for people buying this much stuff.” It literally took the checkout guy a solid ten minutes to ring up all of her stuff. I grew increasingly frustrated and in my passive aggressive manner started huffing and looking up and to the right every 30 to 45 seconds.

I even took the following picture with the intention of twittering a smart alec remark.

But then it happened. You might be asking, “What happened?”  It was what I call the perspective bomb.

The guy behind the counter, who was also somewhat perplexed by the large quantity of flowers, bravely asked the lady what she was going to do with all of this.

The lady hesitated for a second and then replied, “My best friend found out this week she has stage four breast cancer. She’s always wanted a really nice garden so I’m going over to her house to plant all of this for her to enjoy when she gets back from the hospital.”

Boom! That’s a perspective bomb.

Instantly everything changed. I was no longer focused on my self-centered, ego-driven, desires to get out of there as quickly as I could. I was suddenly reminded what a gift it was for me to be standing there waiting in line.

I was blessed to be there and be healthy.

I was blessed to be there and be able to afford to make my purchase.

I was blessed as I thought about countless friends who would probably do similar things for me if I ever found myself in such a horrible position.

Amazing how a little perspective can change everything isn’t it?

 

Why We had kids (Part 12)

June 27, 2011 in Random Fun, Why we had kids with 44 Comments

Reason #12: Because I love string cheese.

 

No self respecting adult can have string cheese in their fridge unless there is at least one child under the age of 7 in the house. I’ve done the math and I’ve got another good 12 years of string cheese ahead. I love my kids and my cheese.

What’s your favorite kids snack?

And in case you’ve missed any of the others…

Why We Had Kids (Part 1)

Why We Had Kids (Part 2)

Why We Had Kids (Part 3)

Why We Had Kids (Part 4)

Why We Had Kids (Part 5)

Why We Had Kids (Part 6)

Why We Had Kids (Part 7)

Why We Had Kids (Part 8)

Why We Had Kids (Part 9)

Why We Had Kids (Part 10)

Why We Had Kids (Par 11)

Longing For Another World

June 24, 2011 in Spiritual Growth with 25 Comments

I’ve been trying all week to put a post together based on last week’s message on Heaven. All of my attempts have failed miserably and I’ve finally given up so I’m just going to share the video with you.

It’s rare that I give a message that has as profound of a personal impact on me as this one did. I’ve spent an embarrassingly low amount of time thinking about heaven over the past 20 years. And as I say in the message, I really don’t believe you can desire something if you can’t imagine it.

As you attempt to increasing long for the world you were created for I hope and pray you’ll find this message helpful. My goal was to help myself first, and then others, begin to imagine what eternity with God might just be like.

No More “Under God” In Pledge Of Allegiance

June 23, 2011 in God, Spiritual Growth with 59 Comments

I don’t know if you’ve heard the big debate, but the phrase “Under God” was apparently missing from the Pledge of Allegiance in NBC’s broadcast of the US Open Golf Tournament this past Sunday.

While there hasn’t been a full explanation on the motivation for nixing God from the Nation’s Pledge NBC (the network which aired the tournament) has said it is “Sorry if anyone was offended.” Twitter and Facebook immediately started to erupt with pleads to boycott NBC for their censorship.

Is anyone really surprised that a major American television network would ‘censor’ and remove the mention of God?

How important is keeping the phrase “Under God”  in chronicling America’s History?

Is this the sort of thing we, as Christians, should get really fired up about?

Let’s go ahead and open this can of worms…your thoughts?

Just When I Was Thinking of Starting To Smoke

June 22, 2011 in Spiritual Growth with 54 Comments

I don’t know if you saw this or not but Cigarette makers must add large, graphic warning labels depicting diseased lungs, a man exhaling smoke through a hole in his neck and other disturbing images to packaging and advertising in the U.S. by October 2012, government officials declared yesterday.

The nine graphic images—accompanying warning labels with messages such as “Smoking can kill you” and “Cigarettes cause cancer”—are the biggest change to warning labels in 25 years.

Not that I have a strong desire to smoke, but man, those images would make me throw a pack down on the ground and stomp on it. Just take a look.

 

 

 

It got me thinking. Do these type of tactics work? I mean if you’re addicted to smoking haven’t you had a million people already tell you that smoking is going to eventually do this to you? Maybe it adds weight to actually see a visual? Maybe it keeps the “first timer” from lighting up the cigarette?

Would similar visuals work in the church?

Would a picture of a mom in pain holding her crying kids keep a father from having an affair?

What about a picture of someone old, alone and miserable because they never learned to forgive and the grudge eventually eroded the joy from their life?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not into scare tactics. I just think sometimes we have a difficult time helping people see just how devastating sin can actually be.

I don’t know. Just thinking out loud today.

Your thoughts?

 

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