Kevin W. McCarthy

The Professor of On-Purpose

Christianity

Do You Really Know Who You Are?

By

Do you really know who you are?  Are you maturing or just getting older?

Purpose is ultimately a spiritual matter.  Most of us are on neutral ground when we talk in terms of mind, body, spirit.  For two decades people of many faiths and even people of no faith have participated in and benefited from the On-Purpose® Approach as it is.  It just works because the principles are universal! 

When Central Florida Christian Chamber of Commerce President Mark Goldstein urged me to offer the program from a solidly Christian point of view to the Chamber members, I resisted.  Not because I was unwilling, but because I am the Board Chair and didn't want to abuse my position.  Mark pressed hard upon me and prevailed with the Board's blessings.  Could they really say no?  See the problem?

My Christian faith is the central point of integration for my life.  Generally, I don't wear it on my sleeve, nor do I hide it.  I like the idea of having "living water language" that is both secular and sacred.  So much of Christianity is riddled with jargon and scripture references that is an unnecessary barrier to entry to the faith.  Jesus taught in parables when not dealing with the religious elites.  On-Purpose makes faith more accessible to all.

Therefore, in partnership with the Central Florida Christian Chamber of Commerce, I am thrilled to share with you the replay of the first ever On-Purpose Leader Experience for Christians.  Here is a link so you can listen.  (55 minutes plus 20 minutes of Q&A)

If you are serious about maturing as a leader of your life, then you want to invest an hour of your life to transform your life.  This six-week experience is that good.  Registration for this experience closes after Monday, September 20.  Please listen in and join me for the next five weeks so you, too, can…

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

PS:   If you like what you see and hear, please use the "SHARE THIS" button on the replay website to tell your family and friends.  Frankly this is a message that needs to get out to lots of people in the pews.

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

And the Winner of the Contest Is… Me!

By

Jeevan Sivasubramaniam of Berrett-Koehler Publishers produces the weekly BK Communique.  An occasional feature is a puzzler.  His final contest of 2009 caught my eye.  Here it is:

Tn
Drum roll please, I won the contest.  Here is Jeevan's most recent posting:

"I issued this challenge. Some people came close, but no one answered correctly.  The answer? You should definitely not take my bet — here's why.

"Kevin McCarthy submitted a response that was just so, um, creative that I had to give him a free book. (And he kindly sent me a copy of his book.) You can read Kevin's response to the challenge here.

Dear Jeevan,

No, I will not accept your bet in A Game of Cards.   Here's why:

After reading the challenge, I easily recognized it as a probability and statistics question.   Upon the thought of engaging in the calculation of the odds of winning versus the payoff, I felt this knot in my stomach – the same one I used to feel in undergraduate and graduate school when I had to take probability and statistics classes.   My mind swirled with permutations, methods, and calculations as to how to attack and solve your challenge.  My competitive juices began to kick in because I had to be the first to solve it in order to win a book and have a shrine in the lobby.  Fortunately, I'm on the East Coast so I have an advantage over those later risers in the Central and Western time zones. 

Recognizing this strange mix of competitiveness and cards, I immediately converted from worshiping in an Episcopal church to an ultra conservative Baptist church with Pentecostal and Charismatic leanings.   This means I can neither play card games nor gamble.  Because I don't smoke, drink, or dance (lack of any sense of rhythm per my wife) anyway, my transition ten minutes ago to my new Thursday morning church is going along fundamentally well.   Never doubt the power and practicality of my conversion and the values of my new denomination.  The knot in my stomach is gone – healed in an instant!  Here is proof of the peace that passes all understanding as it washed through me.  PTL! 

Sure, you were likely expecting some brainiac to give an answer to the challenge using math.  I, however, have claimed the high moral ground in a triumph of faith over math to come to the answer.  Finally, should this be the winning and timely response, then I will accept a book but must decline the shrine in the lobby.  I can have no part in false idols.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

Kevin W. McCarthy
CEO, On-Purpose Partners, LLC

Here was Jeevan's notice to me of being the book winner:

"Never has an answer been so blatantly wrong and yet seemed so right.  So, what the hell, for sheer audacity and creativity, you win a book."

Cover of "The New Organizational Wealth: ...Cover via Amazon

Jeevan was true to his word and sent me The New Organizational Wealth, the book of my choice.  He was a good sport so I sent him The On-Purpose Person.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Anne’s Confirmation

By

Today, our daughter Anne, was confirmed at All Saints Episcopal Church in Winter Park where we’ve attended for twenty three years.  Standing behind with hands on her stood her godparents and parents as Bishop John Howe laid hands on her.  In the Episcopal tradition, babies are baptized and received into God’s kingdom in this sacrament.  Godparents commit to help rear the child in God’s way until the child can make a mature commitment to Christ and seeks to receive the Holy Spirit.  So to have her godparents stand there brings both a closure of sorts for them, but a beginning for Anne.

Here is what the bishop says as he laid hands on Anne:  Strengthen, O Lord, your servant Anne with your Holy Spirit;
empower her for your service; and sustain her all the days of her
life. Amen.

He makes the sign of the cross upon her forehead (as was done in her baptism) both recalling her baptism and affirming her decision to step into her ministry and calling in maturity.

As I step back and think what has taken place in the spiritual realm… it takes my breath away!

[Read more…] about Anne’s Confirmation