Terry Storch

Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

Dispatch w.01.2020

 

Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were refreshing and as joy-filled as mine. I absolutely love this time of year, a time of reflecting and a time of anticipation of the future. The past few weeks for me has been a balance of getting things done and in motion, a time of reflection and introspection of the year as well as a focus on the future. This can sometimes be a bit overwhelming, but I try and approach this season with the right posture to be able to really hear from God and internalize and process what is needed.

Here are a few things I like to do in this season:

  1. Review and audit my Word of the Year. My 2019 Word was Sustainable. I like to open a document and start writing and journaling what I learned, where I grew, what steps I took, and where I failed.

  2. Next, I like to open my calendar and on the same document as above I like to go month by month and pull out the major items of the month and categorize them. When you have all twelve months down with all the major items of each month what themes do you see? What stands out, what is missing...and what do you need to do about it? I love this process because my calendar truly reflects what's happening in my world.

  3. Last, I like to distill everything down into my next Word of the Year. What has God been speaking, what is he showing me in the details of my life? What path forward do I want to take, and what is the Word that best describes it and will be the rudder or framework for the upcoming year? I have landed my 2020 Word, it is Serve (list of all my words). A word of action and intention, and I am really leaning into it and look forward to sharing more about it in the coming weeks and months.

I pray your 2020 is infinitely more than you can imagine.

“‘Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.’”
— Ephesians 3:20
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In 2020 I will be trying some new approaches with the dispatch and constantly be applying my learnings and your feedback. Speaking of your feedback, please keep it coming. I absolutely love your encouraging emails and it’s a blast running into so many of you and you taking the time to let me know how much you enjoy the dispatch. Thank you!

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Today and this weekend take the time to reflect and journal about 2019 and 2020. Lean into this season with intentionality and purpose. With that in mind, here are just two quick articles to inspire and challenge your thinking.

To Speed Up Your Personal Growth, Try Slowing Down. I know, that often flies in the face of conventional wisdom and the pressure of the world we live in today. A world that encourages speed, moving fast and capitalizing on the moment...all the time. Slow down and do more than read this article, take notes, process it and reflect on something you need to apply this year. Read Now

Struggling to find your word? Alli Polin has some great thoughts and quick tips and advice for finding your word of the year. My favorite was, Consider what you're resisting! Whoa, reflect on that for a moment. Read Now

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ABOUT THE TERRY STORCH DISPATCH

The Terry Storch Dispatch offers bite-sized chunks of what I'm learning, what I'm reading, and technology tidbits I have found interesting this week. I regularly explore leadership, technology, strategy and faith to help you grow as a parent, student, leader, entrepreneur or pastor. Enjoy!

other writing
John 20 - The Gospel

John 20 - The Gospel

The Gospel, the Good News! Jesus, Son of God, was born of Mary, lived as the Son of Man, died, and rose to life to rescue the world and bring about a new life. The central message of the gospel. Jesus, the centerpiece! John 19 & 20 cover the brutal death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

In this scene, I can not imagine how the disciples felt. John describes them as overjoyed...but those words just fall short of what I can imagine this moment was like.

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

The day of Jesus' crucifixion fulfilled 28 Old Testament prophecies. Scripture was fulfilled! Beyond that, trying to wrap my mind around what happened this day, on the cross, and fully grabbing the magnitude of the cross is mind-boggling.

Sure, we can dumb this down or simplify it to a place where I just don’t believe it is anywhere near accurate. We can get into penal substitution and argue over was God full of love or was God full of wrath and hate that he killed his son. To me, John 3:16 is pretty clear on the love part.

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

In John 18, we come to the great betrayal. Judas came with the soldiers, officials, and chief priest and Pharisees. We know the scene. But this morning, I saw something I don’t remember reading and surly don’t remember learning about.

“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭18:3-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 is Jesus looking heavenward and praying to God the Father. So much beauty and mystery in this prayer. One thing that jumps out to me is that Jesus, fully God, and fully man prayed. Jesus is God fully. Why did he need to pray, He was One with the Father, He was God...and yet he prayed. This is so powerful;

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭17:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

By the end of John 16, Jesus had done countless miracles, preached some amazing sermons, transformed so many lives, and developed a close and personal relationship with his disciples. So, when reading these verses, I am just utterly confused on so many levels.

“I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:28-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

Jesus’ time on earth is quickly coming to a close, and he finishes up his last sermon or teaching to his disciples as they walk to Gethsemane. This final teaching was a heavy one that no doubt left his disciples with a heavy heart. Jesus said it this way;

“...None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus goes on to say;

John 15 - Constant Growth

John 15 - Constant Growth

We were built for growth, constant growth. From birth, all the way until our death, we were designed by God for constant growth. The problem is, we often can find ourselves stuck in a belief, a phase, or a part of life where we stop growing.

One of the most brilliant investors embodies this understanding. Charlie Munger, at 96 years old, is still learning and growing as a person. I love this quote:

“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
- Charlie Munger

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 opens with Jesus, saying, Don’t let your hearts be troubled. And the chapter closed down with Jesus saying Don’t be troubled or afraid.

A message that needs to resonate with our spirit and our inner self. This was such a good reminder, reading through John 14 over and over. This passage lifted off the screen.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart…

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

The world today seems so volatile and chaotic. Everywhere you look, whatever we read and see on TV just seems to be troubling. Last night, I noticed my lovely wife Tweeted this;

“I can’t be the only one who watches the news and is simply embarrassed right now, right? (Dear Jesus, we tap out. Come on back.)”

I find this first humorous, but then I also find it sad. It’s true, watching the news as a Christ-follower is pretty embarrassing. In John 14, we see Jesus…

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

Summarizing John, chapter 13, looks like this. The Lords Supper takes place. Jesus washes the disciple's feet. Jesus calls out Judas, and Satan enters him. Night comes, Judas leaves, and Jesus says he must go, and where I am going, you can not come. To cap it all off, Jesus also calls out Simon Peter and tells him that he will deny and completely disown Jesus three times. Whoa, a really full chapter, and historical day.

Nestled in the wrap up of the day is the parting message Jesus leaves his disciples, a message Jesus is sharing with us right now.

 
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