Single-mindedness

So you think you can multitask? Texting while driving? No problem. Watching television and reading the Bible? No problem. Checking your email while listening to a spouse, a child, or a friend? No problem.

In reality, however, according to a team of researchers at Stanford University, multi-tasking causes big problems. A Stanford University news service article announced the study this way: "Attention, multitaskers (if you can pay attention, that is): Your brain may be in trouble." The researchers originally set out to discover what gave multitaskers their special focus; instead, they were surprised to discover that in many ways multitasking impairs performance. So while many people think they're effective at juggling multiple tasks, they're actually pretty lousy at it.

For instance, heavy multitaskers are suckers for distraction and for irrelevancy. According to one of the researchers, "Everything distracts them." Multitaskers were also more unorganized in their ability to keep and retrieve information. They were even worse at the main thing that defines multitasking: switching from one task to the next. Heavy multitaskers underperformed in almost every area of the study.

The article based on the study concluded with this advice: "By doing less, you might accomplish more."

Brian Shipwash did not let the possibility of his death stop him from following through with his intentions.

Riding together on his motorcycle, Shipwash and his girlfriend, Shandra Miller, headed up North Carolina's Pilot Mountain. At a curve in the road, Shipwash lost control and crashed into the side of an oncoming pickup truck. The couple went flying, and the motorcycle landed on top of Shipwash.

A group of ten other Harley-Davidson riders rushed to help and found the handlebars of the motorcycle stuck six inches into Shipwash's abdomen. As soon as they pulled the handlebars from his stomach, Shipwash pulled a small box from his pocket. It was broken and bloody, but inside was a ring.

Recounting his words to the Associated Press, Shipwash said, "Shandra, the reason we were going to Pilot Mountain today was so I could propose. I know this is not the best time in the world, but will you marry me?"

"I was crying at the time because of the wreck," Miller said. "But when I saw [the ring], I just started crying even more."

Though he suffered a broken hand and leg, Shipwash did not damage any major organs. No one else was injured in the accident. And Shandra Miller said yes.

"If somebody offered you $2 million, could you give up sports for two years?" This was the question a sports radio station asked its listeners. No games on TV, radio, or in person. No sports page. No ESPN highlight films. No Tuesday morning arguing about Monday Night Football.

One fan phoned in and said no, he would definitely not give up sports, not even for $25 million. "It's where I go when I'm on the Internet. It's what I watch on television. It's what I listen to on the radio in the car. Everywhere I go, it surrounds everything I do."

World Vision Founder Bob Pierce was an extreme version of post-WWII evangelicalism: entrepreneurial, energetic, independent, and out to evangelize the world. In 1947, the young Youth for Christ evangelist started toward China with only enough money to buy a ticket to Honolulu. That was how things were done in Youth for Christ: God's work overcame all obstacles, and God's workers should "burn out, not rust out." Pierce eventually made it to China, where thousands came to Christ during four months of evangelistic rallies. Hunger was everywhere; communism hammered at the door. A compassionate Pierce was hooked. "My father went to China a young man in search of adventure," his daughter Marilee Pierce Dunker would write. "He came home a man with a mission."

Pierce later wrote haunting words in the flyleaf of his Bible: "Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God." Dragging a movie camera across Asia—, China was soon closed—. Pierce showed the resulting pictures to church audiences in North America. He asked for money to help children. He showed their faces and begged Christians to "adopt" one. In 1950 he incorporated this personal crusade as World Vision.

In 1959, journalist Richard Gehman wrote that "[Pierce] cannot conceal his true emotions. He seems to me to be one of the few naturally, uncontrollably honest men I have ever met." When asked by Franklin Graham how to "shake people out of their complacency," Pierce said he had "become a part of the suffering. I literally felt the child's blindness, the mother's grief. … It was all too real to me when I stood before an audience. … It's not something that can be faked." Pastor Richard Halvorsen wrote that Pierce "prayed more earnestly and importunely than anyone else I have ever known. It was as though prayer burned within him. … Bob Pierce functioned from a broken heart."

The same intensity led to his downfall. He had an ungoverned temper and frequently clashed with the World Vision board, particularly over his insistence on making financial commitments on the fly. He traveled as much as 10 months of the year, and his family suffered. "I've made an agreement with God," he said, "that I'll take care of his helpless little lambs overseas if he'll take care of mine at home." In 1963 he had a nervous breakdown. For nine months he almost disappeared, preferring to travel the world rather than return home. In 1967 he resigned from World Vision, bitter at those whom he felt interfered with his organization. On a 1968 good-bye tour of Asia, his daughter Sharon reached him by phone. She asked if he could come home, but he refused, saying that he wanted to extend his trip to Vietnam. His wife, Lorraine, started home immediately, but by the time she arrived, Sharon had tried to commit suicide. Later that year, she tried again and succeeded.

By then Pierce was hospitalized in Switzerland. He would stay there for a year, treated with insulin and other drugs. The following year, he took over a small hunger organization that became Samaritan's Purse. In 1970 he legally separated from his wife. His daughter Marilee wrote that his memory was "badly crippled" and his mind "frequently unclear." Just once, in September 1978, the family was able to gather for an evening of reconciliation. Four days later, Pierce died.

Yet Pierce's work continues—, bigger than he could have imagined—in World Vision and Samaritan's Purse. His passion and compassion still set the standard for others who serve the poor. God works with imperfect instruments.

A controversy has arisen in Switzerland regarding the well known St. Bernard dogs and the accompanying St. Bernard hospice that have kept watch over an ancient alpine pass for centuries. The monks at the hospice are trying to find another organization to take care of the large dogs. St. Bernard hospice was founded in 1050 A.D., some 650 years before the first dog showed up. But for the last 300 years the hospice has been mostly about dogs.

Over the years, the hospice and the famous dogs—wearing barrels marked with a red cross—helped more than 200,000 safely cross the 8,000-foot pass. Neither the dogs nor the monks of St. Bernard's have actively worked in rescues for at least 50 years. Faster and safer methods of rescue such as helicopters and emergency personnel have been introduced in the area. The only dog at the hospice currently is a golden retriever, while only four monks remain.

St. Bernard hospice is largely operated for the tourist industry these days. The dogs are only present during the summer months. Father Frederic Gaillard says the decreasing numbers of monks and the hard work required to keep up the dogs are causing St. Bernard's to shift their focus. He says the dogs eat four to five pounds of food daily, and the big energetic dogs need to get out for exercise several times a day. He adds, "We think it's better to spend more of our time listening to people and not just them (the dogs). They take up too much energy. It's people that need us, and that's not well understood."

Henri Dunant was a wealthy 19th century Swiss banker. He was sent to Paris by the Swiss government to work on a business deal with Napoleon. He arrived only to be informed that Napoleon was off fighting a war against the Austrians in Solferino, Italy. So Henri Dunant got back into his carriage and set his horses galloping down to the battlefront. He got there just in time to hear the bugles blast and see the thundering charge of Napoleon's troops. Dunant had never before witnessed the ghastly carnage of war. He watched in horror as cannonballs tore through human flesh, and acres of land became heaped with maimed and dying men. Henry Dunant was so devastated that he remained at the front for weeks helping doctors tend to the wounded in churches and nearby farmhouses.

After his return to Switzerland, Dunant continued to be haunted by the images of war he had seen in Italy. He could not keep his mind on banking, becoming so distracted that he lost his fortune. Yet even with his career derailed and his plans askew, he had a sense of God's sovereignty in all that had occurred. Of this time he later wrote: "I was aware of an intuition, vague and yet profound, that [this was] God's Will; it seemed to me that I had [something] to accomplish…as a sacred duty and that it was destined to have fruits of infinite consequence for mankind."

And indeed it was. Out of his depression and failure—after following the wrong road to Italy—Henri Dunant founded the Red Cross, which has saved millions and millions of lives and given aid to countless victims of war and disaster over the years. For establishing this organization, he received the first Nobel Peace Prize.

"Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway."

—Actor John Wayne (1907–1979)

This letter was written by Southern Baptist Missionary to Iraq, Karen Watson, prior to leaving for the Middle East. The letter was dated March 7, 2003. Karen was killed, along with four other missionaries, on March 15, 2004.

Dear Pastor Phil and Pastor Roger:

You should only be opening this letter in the event of my death.

When God calls there are no regrets. I tried to share my heart with you as much as possible, my heart for the nations. I wasn't called to a place. I was called to him. To obey was my objective, to suffer was expected, his glory my reward, his glory my reward.

One of the most important things to remember right now is to preserve the work….I am writing this as if I am still working with my people group.

I thank you all so much for your prayers and support. Surely your reward in heaven will be great. Thank you for investing in my life and spiritual well-being. Keep sending missionaries out. Keep raising up fine young pastors.

In regards to any service, keep it small and simple. Yes, simply, just preach the gospel….Be bold and preach the life-saving, life-changing, forever-eternal gospel. Give glory and honor to our Father.

The Missionary Heart:

Care more than some think is wise.

Risk more than some think is safe.

Dream more than some think is practical.

Expect more than some think is possible.

I was called not to comfort or success but to obedience….There is no joy outside of knowing Jesus and serving him. I love you two and my church family.

In his care,

Salaam,

Karen

"God never put anyone in a place too small to grow." Henrietta Mears, founder of Gospel Light

The daughter of missionaries to the Congo Republic told Pastor Leith Anderson this story: As a little girl, she participated in a daylong rally to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the coming of missionaries to that part of Africa. At the close of a long day of speeches and music, an old, old man stood before the crowd and insisted on speaking. He soon would die, he said, and if he didn't speak, information that he alone possessed would go with him to his grave.

He said that when the missionaries arrived, his people thought them strange and their message dubious. The tribal leaders decided to test the missionaries by slowly poisoning them to death. Over a period of months and years, missionary children died one by one. Then, the old man said, "It was as we watched how they died that we decided we wanted to live as Christians."

Those who died painful, strange deaths never knew why they were dying or what the impact of their lives and deaths would be. But through it all, they didn't leave. They stayed because they trusted Jesus Christ.

Failure does not shape you; the way you respond to failure shapes you. Sir Edmund Hillary made several unsuccessful attempts at scaling Mount Everest before he finally succeeded. After one attempt he stood at the base of the giant mountain and shook his fist at it. "I'll defeat you yet," he said in defiance. "Because you're as big as you're going to get—but I'm still growing."

Every time Hillary climbed, he failed. And every time he failed, he learned. And every time he learned, he grew and tried again. And one day he didn't fail.

When the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius destroyed the city [of Pompeii in A.D. 79], many people were buried in the ruins. Some took cover underground, and the place became their burial chamber. Those who chose a high hiding place were also unable to escape destruction. But a Roman sentinel was found at the city gate, his hands still grasping his weapon. That was where he had been placed by the captain. While the earth shook beneath him, while the flood of ashes and cinders overwhelmed him, he stood at his post; and it was there he was found a thousand years later.

Even before finishing his degree, and still lacking pastoral experience, Charles Simeon put his name forward for the pastorate of Cambridge's Holy Trinity church. This was unheard of. Amazingly Simeon was given the parish and would labor there the rest of his life.

The church was less than pleased to receive this blustering minister who insisted that those who called themselves "Christian" be truly saved by grace and live lives more closely conformed to Christ. They distrusted his ivory-tower background—they were largely artisan's families, or more bluntly, in Simeon's words, "very poor church folks," and they were wary of his fervor.

Opponents harassed Simeon by locking the family-owned pews, forcing those who wished to hear the new minister to find standing room as best they could. When Simeon brought in benches, church council members tossed them out into the churchyard, but he was undeterred.

Simeon was also determined to provide the Cambridge undergraduates with decent training in theology and pastoral ministry. In 1790 Simeon began holding informal seminars for ministerial students on Sunday evenings. In 1812, he instituted weekly "conversation parties" in his rooms, essentially theological and pastoral Q&A sessions. By 1823, some 40 students were attending. By 1827 the number was closer to 60, straining the room's capacity and keeping two servants busy distributing tea. Along the way, the eager participants acquired the labels "Simeonite" and "Sim," which they wore as badges of honor.

Of the undergraduates Simeon trained during his 54 years at Holy Trinity, some 1,100 became effective—and many, distinguished— parish ministers, chaplains, and missionaries.

"The man who tries to walk two roads will split his pants."

A vision is the dominant factor that governs your life.

It determines all the choices you are making.

It's what's left after all the layers are peeled away like an onion.

It's what your mind naturally gravitates toward when it is not legitimately concentrating on something else.

It's ... what determines your friendships and your relationships that you are cultivating ...

It's what your prayers are about--what you dream about and are giving money toward.

I suppose they say of me, "He is a radical; he is a fanatic; he only has one idea." Well, it is a glorious idea. I would rather have that said of me than be a man of ten thousand ideas and do nothing with them.