Coming soon!

I have been debating about what this blog will look like moving forward and I plan to revamp it into a video blog of sorts. I recently launched a new YouTube Channel that is linked on my new homepage at www.GregTroxell.com. On the channel will be a few different shows. I am currently developing one focused on leadership and then there will be another focused on ministry issues. The plan right now is to post the videos here as well. I may still write a few blogs here and there but most of them will be video.

Let me know how you like the new concept once it is in effect. Right now the only show I have up is My Road to WrestleMania which is really geared at readers of my Sports and Entertainment blog. Feel free to check it out at www.GregTroxell.com.

Also on my new homepage you can connect with me through Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Check it out when you get a chance.

Good vs Evil; What Does It Really Mean – part two

Here is part two of us looking at good vs evil.

Last time we talked about the definitions of good and evil and I challenged you to write down some things that were good and some things that were bad.

I had several things on my list as did many of my readers. It was cool seeing some of the lists in my email. But it was also cool to see the wide variety of what people see as good and bad.

On my list I had the New York Yankees. Here is the thing though, I am not a Yankees fan….not even a little. I am a Braves fan and really don’t even like the Yankees. So why you may ask are they on my good list? Well I know that the Yankees are good for baseball. Heck they are good for sports. They represent a true winner’s spirit. They do what it takes and second best is not good enough for them. So I place them in my good list.

You may wonder what does that have to do with anything and here it is…good and evil are really left up to the individual.

Let’s take it back to the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve took a bite of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. After they took the bite they determined what they thought was good and what they thought was evil. See God had just made everything that was good but then Adam and Eve chose to place things into categories. Thus humans determine good and evil.

Many people look at the exact same thing and one group says it is good and another group says it is evil. Look at Hitler. Many of us say he was evil but he had an entire army of people that thought he was good so to them he WAS good. So if those people thought he was good…was he?

The only definition that I can come up with is anything done outside of God’s word is evil.

However If God can take anything that was done for evil and use it for good so does that now make the evil good? Interesting thought huh?

Unfortunately we determine what is evil based on our own agenda. Republicans say Democrats are evil. Democrats think Republicans are evil. Unions hate management. Management hates unions. The Yankees and Red Sox think the other is just bad. It comes down to who believes like we do.

The solution is to immerse yourself in God’s Word and follow what He says. To often we want to follow man but we need to turn our attention to God. Live our lives according to Him and our definition of evil changes. We can then take the actions of this world and turn them into glory for God.

Time and How to Handle It – Part Two

Yesterday I talked about some strategies to handling my daily time that I have been implementing into my daily routine.  (if you missed it you can check it out here).  Today I want to talk about some things I plan to try this year.  I would be interesated in hearing your feedback on these either in the comments or via email.

• Scheduling 45 minute meetings instead of 60 minute meetings.  This enables you to have time between meetings to prepare for the next one.  In my world we have many back to back meetings.  What happens is about 50% of the participants are late due to previous meetings.
• Holding others accountable to their meeting START time.  If someone schedules a meeting to start at a specific time I expect it to start on time.  I have a new rule that if a meeting is not going within ten minutes of the scheduled time they will have to reschedule me.
• Holding others accountable to their meeting END time.  If someone schedules me for a 60 minute meeting I plan for 60 minutes, not 75 or 90 minutes.  going forward my goal is to leave the meeting even if it is still going.  I will let the meeting leader know that I have a hard stop at the end of the meeting and will excuse myself at the scheduled end time.  This one will be difficult but is a necessary one for me to get everything completed.
• Holding MYSELF accountable for start and end times.  I have to make sure I start meetings on time and end on time or early.  I can usually end them on time since I book at least 15 miutes longer than I think I need.  This way most of the time I can give the attendees time back instead of sucking up additional time.

These are just a few tips I have and that I plan to adopt.  Really most of this ‘time management’ is really about respecting people’s time.  If you want others to respect your time you must respect their time.

Try these things and let me know how it goes.

Time and How to Handle It – Part One

Last year I really worked on my time management skills and learned some really cool things.  One eye opener was you can’t manage time but you can manage your duties throughout the day.  The other is managing the peole who suck up your time like a Dyson. So with that said here are a few things I was able to put in place that has helped me.

• Schedule time to check email.  This was a hard one because we are so connected to email.  So step one was block my calendar each day with 15 minute tasks to check email.  I spaced these out ever wo to three hours.  One huge challenge is sticking to the schedule to only check the email during those appointed times.  When I have followed the rule I was amazed how much more I was completing each day.
• Keep my calendar up to date.  I make sure to schedule everything I can on my Outlook calendar.  I have many meetings each day and by keeping my calendar up to date people do not place meeetings on top of things I already have scheduled.  I have also started using the category feature to color code my appointments.  When scheduling things on Outlook do not forget lunch.
• Decline meetings.  I have started declining more meetings if it fall on top of something else.  Too many people are selfish with their time and they think you should adjust to them.  What I have seen is the less flexible I have become with my time the more respect I am getting and the meeting organizer has become more flexible with their time.  If someone wants to meet with you allow them to be the ones to work around you.  If you are scheduling time then of course you should be flexible to them.
• Block OT slots.  Lately we have had some alternate shifts to work due to expanded hours.  I now block the times I am not in the office.  Example when I work the late shift I block the time from when the office opens until the time I am scheduled to start.  This enables people to see a better picture of when you are/are not available.
• Go unavailable.  At our office we have instant messaging which can be more distracting than email.  If you are in a meeting or working on something put yourself in unavailable.  It is amazing how many questions are answered by the asker when you are not available.
• Put your back to the door.  I changed the configuration in my office to where my back is facing the door.  This has decreased the ‘drive by’ meetings that continuously happen with me.

These are just a few tips that I have implemented.  I am still trying to stay true to some of them but I have to concentrate to make the plan work.

Tomorrow I will share some more tips that I am in the process of putting to practice.

a new VISION – Part Two

continued from Part One

…as I prayed and listened to what God had to say I must admit I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear it.  While I was good with Project X and On the 5 I wasn’t sure I was prepared to hear what he was saying.  But bottom line what he said was yes you need to rock this Thursday thing but that the coffee shop idea was too small.  That the Bible study thing wasn’t where He wanted me.  And most of all the kids needed to be a priority.  The ending result He said “Greg I want you to plant a church, a full blown church but I want you to meet during the week.”

Yep He said start a church.  A church that is a bit different.  One that meets during the week and not on Sunday.  One that has a true heart and focus on the kids.  So I sat down with Melissa, my wife, and told her what I was feeling.  She confirmed by saying “well let’s do it”.

So here we are going down the path of planting a church.  We have no clue as to what we are doing but God placed this on us and He will guide us down the correct path.

We are committed to creating an awesome kids environment and teaching them is our main priority.  I mean the adults are great but the kids are not just our future but our present.

You may ask “why Thursday?” to which I respond “why NOT Thursday?“.    One of our driving factors for a Thursday is to enable families to spend their weekends together.  See we believe that your number one ministry is your family and if family ain’t right nothing is right.  So we give you the ENTIRE weekend to spend with your family.

Another reason is we strongly believe in a sabbath or a day of rest.  With our schedules these days a day of rest is extremely hard to obtain.  So here is a Sunday that you can spend without the pressures of getting up and going to church.  Now don’t get me wrong I have no issues with people going to church on Sunday but I also don’t have issues with people going to church on any day.

So with that said our church will be called Vision Church and we are looking at the Bogan Park Community Center as our home.  We plan to be very involved in the community and Bogan Park gives us so much opportunity to do just that. Not to mention that Bogan Park is awesome and not too far from the Mall of Georgia.

Our official launch date has not been finalized but we are looking at August 2011, stay tuned as we make more announcements in the coming weeks about what we are doing and where we are going.

You can learn more by visiting our official website at www.VisionChurch.tv

If you are interested in joining our launch team, email us at info@visionchurch.tv

I can’t wait to share more of the VISION with you…

 

a new VISION – Part One

In May of this year I launch Project X an outreach effort geared toward the action sports community.  I wrote a blog about how and why it started earlier this year (CLICK HERE TO READ).  As I was working on Project X, I was also given the vision for Project X – On The 5.

On The 5  was to be a bible study on Thursday nights.  More of a sermon discussion type lesson. I wrote a blog about that too (CLICK HERE TO READ).  I had several people ready to attend the Thursday night study then on June 15 the coffee shop owner shut down the shop to handle some personal things.   The official kick off night was to be June 17, 2010. So with two days before the launch we put everything on hold.  The weird thing was that it did not stress me as I knew I was not in control.

So I prayed to about what to do and as audibly as I have ever heard God he said “you know you are supposed to do this”.  Well then I knew I had to do it.  However he also said that a coffee shop was not the right place and He asked “what about the kids?”.

Now if you read the On The 5 blog you will see that we were working on a childcare solution.  My wife had really pressed into me about the kids.  Now here is God doing the same thing.  The vision He was placing on me was beginning to have a strong push for the kids.  So a solution was needed; we needed a location with an area for the kids.  Not just an area for the kids to play but an area for the kids to learn.

So what to do?  I did what every good Christian would do, I prayed about it.  God answered and he said…

(part two tomorrow)

 

Game Day Experience

I am a huge college football fan.  I love my Georgia Bulldogs and really enjoy the game day experience.  I like so many others get to the game early, hang out in the parking lot while burgers, brats, and more cook on the grill.  During that time we build relationships that start off with one thing in common, Bulldog football.

Then we head to Sanford Stadium to experience the game.  Here are over 90,000 fans packed in to witness the game.  The production of the game is seamless.  The players run onto the field on queue, the band plays, and the ball is kicked off right on time.  After about three or four hours the game concludes.  Some fans happy others not so much, yet over 90,000 fans go home having experienced an awesome event (at least it is awesome when we win which ain’t exactly often this year).

After the game several thousand fans tune into  the post game Dawg Talk radio show.  Even less fans call in to voice their opinion of the game.  Yet the fans that do tune into the post game show are taking their experience deeper.  The next day fans can listen to the Bulldawg Brunch that breaks down the game the day before in more depth.  They talk about specific plays, how things could have been better, and what to look forward too.

During the next week some fans listen to 680 the Fan or 790 the Zone to talk more football.  Others read websites such as Rivals.com to learn about what high school recruit maybe the next UGA star.  There are forums to read, newspapers, magazines, and blogs dedicated to college football to further enhance the knowledge of that Saturday afternoon game day experience.

Then comes the next Saturday and the next game.  People gather together again to talk football and experience yet another game.  The knowledge of each fan varies.  Some know everything there is to know from every player, coach, recruit, family member, and even the major of each student athlete.  Others do good to know what time the game starts.  That knowledge varies based solely on what that fan does outside of game day.

Isn’t that like church?  So many of us show up for the worship experience and go home.  We don’t tune in during the week to further enhance our knowledge.  We just show up on ‘game day’ and enjoy the show.  What would happen of we did dig in a little bit?  What if we read blogs, watched other sermons, studied the bible with a group, dug in deeper during the week?  I would bet that if we pursued the knowledge during the week our game day experience would be so much more enjoyable.

 

Project X – On The 5

Yesterday I posted about the outreach I am doing through Project X, today I tell you about another step in this journey, On The 5.

Over the past year or so I had kicked around the idea of leading a Bible study group but nothing had come to fruition.  Then an opportunity arose with my home church but there were shall we say ‘logistical challenges’ so that was dropped.  Then recently the urge was placed on me again to lead something but not just a traditional Bible study.

Instead it was to lead a series based discussion group that was Bible based but put out there in a straight up, no nonsense, real world, non-apologetic, bold, and fearless way.  One that raises and discusses issues that most churches shy away from.  One that is not afraid to not only take the message to the edge but will jump over the edge in faith.

So with some serious prayer ‘On The 5‘ has been born, well not really born yet but it is on the way.  You may wonder why is it called ‘On The 5‘ and that reason is we will meet on the fifth day of the week, Thursdays.  We are looking at launching ‘On The 5‘ in mid to late June at Brew Awakenings located at 2815 Buford Drive –  Buford, GA 30519 with a start time of 7:15pm.

I am currently looking at options for kid care but right now I do not have that solidified but stay tuned cuz I WILL find a solution.

I am excited and nervous about this new venture.  I am not sure what God has in store for ‘On The 5‘ but I know it will be an adventure.

So if you are ready to dig into God’s word in a new way.  If you are ready to discuss all kinds of topics that most churches shy away from.  If you are ready to get bold in your faith. If you are ready to leave religion at the door. Then come on out to ‘Project X – On The 5‘ and get ready to become FEARLESS!!!

Go to the website and hit the contact us page to get on our mailing list or stay connected with what is going on with Project X on our Facebook page.

Project X is Here!

Project X was born through several means but ultimately it was a seed planted by God.  Here is the story of how that seed is growing into a tree…

In 2009 I started feeling the call to be more involved in the community.  While I was attending an awesome church and leading the youth ministry this calling kept weighing on me.  At the time I felt I needed to find a church that was serving the community in a different way.  I found that church and it has been amazing! This church is involved in the community through projects each year, a clothing ministry, and a student ministry that is beyond words. The church is growing and the community is feeling it, just crazy cool stuff.  However after several months I felt God talking to me saying ‘ok now you are ready for a little more.’  I didn’t know what that meant.  I was missing something but wasn’t sure what it was. Then I attended the Nuclear Cowboyz event in Atlanta and have been forever changed.

While I have always like actions sports and love ESPN’s X Games I never looked at it more than entertainment.  Yet after that night at the Nuclear Cowboyz God said to me “what if we approached ministry with the fearlessness these guys approach their sport?”. I was floored.  Then it started weighing on me that this is the community that is changing the world.  They not only affect ESPN and the Olympics but they now influence fashion, tv, movies, music, basically everything we touch. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to serve the action games community.

My next thought was how can I serve them.  Then God was like ‘dude just serve them in however you want and show them love’. I thought then why not go to their events and give out water.  Pray for them before the events and after the events.  Take prayer requests but do not get all preachy, preachy.  So that is the plan serve the action games community with a ‘fearless love’.

With that said Project X has become a reality! Things have been moving fast and things are coming together in ways I never thought possible.  I am just trying to hold on as God is taking us in all kinds of cool directions, opening doors that we never thought about.

I am excited to announce our first event will be the Spring Jam at Durhamtown Off Road Park.  They will have all kinds of stuff going on including motorcross (MX) and freestyle motorcross (FMX).  We will be there handing out water and stickers to the participants and fans and of course we will stay for the show.

I think the coolest part of this ministry is the fact that my six year old son is excited about serving.  This is giving us an opportunity to do something together, to be involved as a family, to share the fearless love of Jesus with others as a team.  That is just cool…

Stripped Down and Getting Naked

I have always been a huge fan of being a transparent leader.  When asked “what is my management / leadership style?” I answer with “I like to get naked”.  What I am referring to is opening up and putting most of my business out there.  For me it kills off rumors and builds trust with your team.  Plus it is less stress on remembering what you said and didn’t say.

Well today I want to applaud a company that has a very naked ad campaign going on right now.  That company is Domino’s Pizza.  They have changed their pizza recipe for the first time in like 50 years.  Instead of just changing the taste and calling it ‘new and improved‘ they have come out with the reasons they changed it.  They basically are saying ‘hey our customers thought our pizza started to suck’.

To take it a step further on their commercials they are quoting customers.  Here are two quotes that stood out to me:

• “the crust tastes like cardboard”
• “the sauce tastes like ketchup”

So here they are pulling the curtain back saying hey we see that we screwed up over the past few years.  We haven’t kept our taste up to expectations and we are listening.

Domino’s has even set up a website about the change at www.pizzaturnaround.com .  On the site they have a short documentary with actual footage from focus groups.  Plus they have a stream of tweets that provide real time feedback on the product.  not all of the tweets are positive and to their credit they leave them up.

Will the nakedness work?  I don’t know but I can tell you that I plan to order some Domino’s soon.

It makes me wonder what would happen if other companies or churches decided to exercise the same naked approach?

Plus if a company or church doesn’t want you to peek behind the curtain, don’t you wonder what they are hiding?