Interesting ideas with Stan Hustad

We continue in this mid week of the Holy Week, indeed the passion and suffering week, and the week when things are truly going down! This is probably the day that the deal was done and making sure that Jesus would be done for!

For the powers that be most of all religiously but some for political reasons, Jesus must be taken down, And so I call this the Big B Day...

And let me tell you the story about the b-day and what it can mean not only for Jesus but for you and me too. Because there's a good chance that we will have more than one B-day in our life too!

Well Jesus is back and now he continues to raise a ruckus and cause trouble in Jerusalem, and the powers that be are being threatened by that not only because he has a great deal of popular support he seems to almost be fearless and right in their face.

They try to catch him and harass him and ask him who does he think he is and where does he get his authority and credibility and his power. And he gives it right back to them, keeping them off balance, and demonstrating that he's probably even smarter than they are,

So right now he begins to demonstrate the truth that will be confirmed later in the week, indeed this is Jesus and he is The One!

Well we enjoy celebrating the parade on Sunday but on Monday Jesus is not just coming down into town again he's coming down to take a lot of other things down with him...

And so we have the famous scene of Jesus, hardly gentle and kind, flipping tables throwing things, scaring people and making a big mess. Indeed Monday is truly a messy day and they are going to be a lot of messy things coming down this week. Are you ready to learn from all of the things that are going down.

Starting this Sunday we're going to begin a whole new series of little 5 to 7 minute programs every day later in the afternoon early evening on the subject of ON GOING DOWN.

And today millions of people around the world celebrated what is oftentimes called the triumphal entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem. I'm not so sure about that description.

And so I have re-entitled it Sunday Morning Going Down. So please give me seven minutes to tell you the introduction to my story and perhaps how you might join me in seeking not only to think differently but actually be different at the end of the week.

 Whether we went, whether we ran away, whether we dodged and got deferred or maybe we just weren't qualified in someway, the era of the Vietnam war affected almost every young man in America in some way.

Millions of them went to the war and many thousands died in the war.  Many were deeply and profoundly injured in the war and some were damaged in such ways that life just went profoundly wrong for them in so many ways.  And in some ways those poor folks are really the victims because they didn't get their name on the wall but in many ways the war had taken their life anyhow.

And now many people have forgotten or didn't know that the world famous and almost universally loved memorial was very controversial when it was first proposed and then when it was first built. Many thought it was a terrible idea.  May I tell you that story.

Thankfully in that case the people in charge stood by their decision and it turned out to be a transforming work of genius.  Let me tell you why it is so profoundly significant and transforming and what perhaps we can even learn from the wall itself.

That will be my story for this weekend and when I go to the memorial indeed I know that I will cry.

Stan

 Let me tell you an open secret. Things are not going to get better in the world now,  maybe later but not now, and the only thing that's gonna get better will be the situation that you create because you truly created some new and transforming things in your life.  That's the deal, face it and believe me.

And that's why a number of us are seeking to create in 2024  a way where we can deal with the realities of life with radical resilience and be able to expedite big transformations in who we are and what we do and how perhaps we even begin to change the world to be a little bit better, starting now.

Here's four things to think about and remember if you are serious about doing just that. And please keep in mind most people are not serious so I would encourage you to be different.

Here's my story and I think it might be helpful and the song which I didn't sing really but I certainly did in my imagination.

At this stage in my life there are more passings and obituaries than weddings, births of children, or anniversaries in the memos we get about the class news and reunions.  Recently we received a message about June. 

Even though I was not a close friend of hers I knew her, and I was very much moved by the tributes that came in and the story that was told.

I knew Bill had died in the Vietnam war.  And of course during that conflict we all had friends or knew of people that had suffered badly and even died in the conflict.

But I didn't know the Bill story, and now I know more of it, but what moved me even more is the story of the life that you can put together after a terrible tragedy.

Truly a story of a woman who took tragedy and transformed iit nto many victories.  Blessings on her family and her memory.

Thanks

Stan

In one of the tales of Fredrick Nietzsche, the madman cries out, where has GOD gone.

And if we're honest with ourselves and perhaps even honest with God we all have those kind of questions come to us from time to time.  And a few years ago a very famous rabbi wrote a book that asked the questions, why do good things happen for bad people, and why do bad things happen to bad to good people.

No matter what we believe or embrace, honesty compels us to admit that those doubts fears and questions come to us all. And my only counsel after many years of living and of believing and doubting is, don't let anybody put you in a box or critique you with their final answers.  

Sometimes only God knows the answer and often He never tells.  Last week we did a Cowboy Up podcast program which I will tell you about as I invite you to become a broadcaster in 2024, and how I am helping a number of people in the western tradition do just that.  

And in that program and for these times we played a sad song which is called a Cowboy's Lament by Carol Markstrom (thanks Carol) and in a way it gives us all the the comfort of knowing that it's OK to ask the question!

Thanks

Stan

Could it be then when we no longer fear death that's some great and powerful things might begin to happen in our life and business.  Will take some time with me as a reminisce about some old films that I've binged done over the weekend that reminded me of a great truth that is hard to accept but maybe it is one of the keys to success in life and business.

Let me tell you the story and then you tell me what you think!

Stan

You seldom hear the word Customer Service anymore because it has been replaced by another word. We are always talking about the Customer Experience. Well how did that happen and what does it mean.

On today's project program we're going to help you better understand how you can do business better today by understanding how customer service became the customer experience, and how that has now led to what we call The Transformation Economy, in which people pay not for what you do but they pay for what they got.

This story by Joe Pine will tell you how it happened and what you need to do about it