PHILLIPSANTILLAN.COM

Author: Phillip Santillan

  • Book Review: Everyone Communicates, Few Connect by John Maxwell

    I received this book Everyone Communicates, Few Connect for free a while ago and have been so excited to dive into it.  This is probably one of the books I received this year that I was most interested in getting into, simply because I know that I personally have a lot of room for growth in this area of connecting.
    Communication is a part of my everyday job.  Connecting is essential for me to get the job done.  When I can do both well, I find success.  When I don’t…well…let’s just say that it ain’t pretty!
    What I loved immediately about this book is that John Maxwell took a different approach to writing this book than I have noticed in the past.  In this book, more than his others, I noticed that the wisdom he was trying to share concerning connecting well with others was an outflow of the input he received from others via his blog, twitter or other social media

  • What motivates people?

    Saw this video:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQYJs1rsMuo]

    And thought about the question this video asks at 6:00 minutes

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mG-hhWL_ug]

    Of course this is a cooler version of this discussion:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=channel]

     

    Then I thought to myself…what if what we consider “church leadership structure” ran like the internal workings of Facebook?

    Would it be a good idea?

    Would it be a terrible idea?

  • What say you?

    Ran across an interesting quote today that I’m still digesting. What do you have to say?

    “Perhaps it is in this awareness of the ‘needs of the other’ that we, as an increasingly crabby church, can reconnect with the Jesus of the Whole Gospel, our Savior and lover of our souls; forgetting our own petty inconveniences and embracing the true pain and suffering that is going on around us. Teaching, showing, and demonstrating the compassion of the Good Samaritan could be the ounce of cure that is needed to prevent the spiritual burden of navel gazing upon our own boring and meaning deprived lives.”

  • Why Church Marketing is Important

    Because it’s not only about what you want to say, but about what you may be unintentionally be saying.

    Make sure you send some love to whoever at your church works hard behind the scenes to make sure that you’re communicating clearly!

  • The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

    Could possibly be the most mentally stimulating piece of information you view today…

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc]

  • The End

    And so it’s over.

    No more ignoring emails and phone calls (as much as I could…)

    No more sleeping in

    No more passing Amish cyclists on the left

    It’s been a great week with family, and even a better week recharging my batteries. I’ve been able to pray and play a little more, and I got to catch up on some reading that has been way overdue.

    If it’s true what they say – that every moment in life is a moment of learning – then what was it that I had learned this week? Here are just a few things:

    • My wife loves where she came from though she would probably never choose to live in a small town.
    • My children love me so much more than I know
    • Being genuinely interested in others is so much more fun than trying to be interesting to others
    • Nothing is better than sweet corn that just was picked from its stalk

    Tons of memories were made this week, and as much as I hate to admit that the end is near, I am excited to see what more memories “life in real time” will bring!

    Soli Deo Gloria

  • Indiana…we’re all for you//pt2

    Our trip had a lot of memorable moments so far.  Most of them being centered around the phrase, “I have to use the bathroom.”  I guess that’s what happens when you travel with 6 kids.  Ok…I’ll be honest, it was MY kids with the weak bladders.

    On the way to Indiana, my kids were introduced to a classic Chicago icon.

    Most of our day was just driving.  The fun part was the next morning!

    So the reason behind the whole coordination of bringing all the kids and grandkids together was to surprise grandpa for his 60th birthday which is this week.  So after cramming 13 kids into great-grandma Law’s two bedroom home, we woke up and headed off to Cracker barrel to hopefully beat the unsuspecting grandparents of the impromptu family reunion.

    And here is the classic group shot with kids and their silly faces!

    Today we had fun in Wakarusa’s play park and splash pad. Here are a few pics

    (Very cool, old building by the park.  I know, most of these are of Brennan.  That’s because he’s the only one I could get to stand still long enough for me to snap a good pic with my phone.)

    And so far this vacation has been great!

    Stay tuned….

  • Indiana…we’re all for you!

    This weekend we embark on both an overdue vacation, and what I predict will be a great adventure. It should be a great time and I want to take you with us!

    So follow along and see what it’s like to hang with the Amish through corn fields and 2-lane country roads.

  • Day One: Repost

    Looking through my “past blog posts” I found this and it made me laugh. Ok…maybe not the whole post, but the video did. And then it hit me again…I came home over a year ago and it feels so good!

    3211400549_5982891cd0_b

    Today was Day One

    ok…it was “technically” Day 3 if you count this week’s days in the office. Nonetheless, today was the first Sunday for me at Maple Grove Evangelical Free Church. Overall, I think things went as planned. I’ve been working with Matt on today’s service over the last couple of weeks and he did a great job of running the rehearsals, coordinating and communicating with the volunteers, and just overall being a workhorse! I know that and his wife are totally going to be missed.

    It’s still too early to give out any type of real evaluation, but I can tell you that my guitar fell off the guitar stand in the second service at the beginning of the announcements. I’m not one who gets embarrassed easily, so it was not a real big deal for me, but when I had to put on the guitar again for the beginning of the offertory special, I didn’t think that the 3 foot drop the headstock took just might give me a reason to check the tuning on the guitar ;P

    Needless to say, I had to tune on the fly, which made it a little awkward for me, but hopefully, I wasn’t too much of a distraction. I’m sure someone will bring up the guitar thing at our Worship Arts meeting this Tuesday. Maybe next time I’ll lead from the piano. But then I might fall off the chair if Murphey’s Law tends to stick around for me.

    Let’s hope I don’t end up like this guy:

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n3ASzTQCzc]

  • My Soap Box on Climate and Happiness

    I am about to get on a soapbox, so if you’re not the type that likes getting preached at, then I suggest you hit [Apple+W].  If you’re a PC user, don’t worry, your computer will crash soon or your newest version of spyware/virus/firewall software will freeze up your computer needing you to hard reboot.  Just close the computer.

    Still with me?

    So here it is, my soapbox message about how where you live affects how happy you live:

    It doesn’t

    In all the places I have lived, (Maryland, Virginia, California, North Carolina, Florida, and Minnesota) I have learned that climate is never a deal-breaker for happiness.  (By the way, these are places I have lived – not vacationed)

    I say no regrets because as I sat in the basement tonight with my wife and two kids (along with some good friends who were over tonight for a game of Settlers and dessert) I was reminded that, because happiness cannot be broken by bad climate, it can neither be established by it.  Tonight’s impending threat of Tornado, reminded me of all the nights I spent huddled up with my family during hurricane season in FL.  It was a wonderful night!  Why, because it was more than obvious that I was with the people I loved and by whom I was loved.

    Living in an undesirable climate cannot make you unhappy. What living in an undesirable climate can do is magnify the already existing frustrations that exist in your life.

    • I’m frustrated with my husband – the bad weather here reminds me that it’s his fault.
    • I’m frustrated that I have been sheltered – the bad weather is a sign that I never got to vacation in Hawaii
    • I’m frustrated that what where I am reminds me of the past I’ve lived – so the bad weather is just a sign that I should run from my past instead of confronting it with emotional maturity

    These frustrations make us say dumb things like:

    • If I only lived in some place warmer, I’d be happy

    Great weather may appear to initiate good feelings, but it will not sustain it.

    Here is what I think defines happiness:

    Happiness is simply found living in and living out the Lord’s will, not in what you perceive to be the climate “of the Lord”

    Too simple? Too spiritual?

    Exactly my point.