Category Archives for "Brandon Gilliland"

3 Thumbs Up! April 14th, 2012

I’m back in Pennsylvania, and it’s time for the third installment of 3 Thumbs Up!  Without further delay, here are my three thumbs up for this week:

Thumbs Up Number 1:  Caine’s Arcade.  I just learned about this today thanks to the wonderful blog world and tylerstanton.com, and I think if you watch this video all the way through you’ll agree that this deserves a huge thumbs up.

Thumbs Up Number 2:  Life Of A Steward Podcast.  By now, you know that I’m a huge podcast fan.  A new podcast that has caught my attention and deserves a thumbs up is the Life Of A Steward Podcast.  In each episode, Loren Pinilis shares insights into how to make the most of our time.  So far, Loren has released six episodes.  I’m looking forward to the next one already!

Thumbs Up Number 3:  Big B.  Big B is a blog written by my friend Brandon Gilliland.  Brandon is a medical student with a heart for amplifying God’s kingdom.  He has a huge heart for sharing and encouraging.  He has recently written a couple of blog posts about blogging and quality content that have struck a chord with me.  I’m excited to see how God will use Brandon and his Big B blog in the days, weeks, and years to come.

What have you come across this week that deserves a thumbs up?  Let us know in the comments.

January 2012 Top Posts and Commenters

It was a fun month for The Stretched Blog.  This month, we switched to a self hosted platform.  It has been fun to learn and experiment with the new things available at jonstolpe.com.  If you add up the traffic from the old site and the new Stretched Blog, it was far and away the best month so far.  Here is a list of the top posts on the new blog for the month of January.  It is exciting to see how many guest bloggers appeared in the top ten list this month!

Managing Conflict – A Leadership Stretch … Guest Post by Frank Chiapperino
January 14, 2012 Week In Review
Book Review: The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
Our Behavior Is Our Witness – Guest Post by Kevin Stone
Why Did I Change To My Own Domain?
Ice Breaker – Leaving On A Jet Plane
Ice Breaker – Back to the Future
Rediscovering Grace Through A Two By Four Moment – Guest Post By Chad Jones
Stretching Beyond the Hurt – Guest Post by Diane Karchner
Say What You Need To Say (This was one of my favorites from the month!)

As promised, I am giving away a copy of The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson to this month’s top commenter.  It was a tight race between the top two, and there was a tie for 3rd place!  Here’s the top 3 (or 4):

1.  Larry Carter (22 comments)

2.  Brandon Gililland (21 comments)

3.  Bill Grandi (11 comments)

3.  Arny Sanchez (11 comments)

Your comments are a huge part of what makes The Stretched Community so great!  This month, I will be giving away Chazown by Craig Groeschel to the top commenter.

As a reminder, don’t forget to subscribe to The Stretched Community by entering your e-mail on the right side of the main page.  This will make sure you don’t miss a single post, and it will give you an opportunity to receive any “exclusive” information that might be sent to the blog subscribers only.  Also, I’d encourage you to follow Jon Stolpe Stretched on Facebook.  This is an excellent way to see some of the things I’m reading elsewhere in the blog world.

As always, thank you so much for making The Stretched Blog part of your regular reading!

Are you a blogger?  What was the highlight of your month?  Feel free to share a link to your top post!


Book Review: Jolt! by Phil Cooke

This weekend, I finished reading my second book of the year – Jolt! by Phil Cooke.  (Hopefully, I can keep this momentum going.)

I had never heard of Jolt! or Phil Cooke before I received a free copy of this book thanks to Brandon Gililland who gave me a copy as part of a contest he was running on his blog.  Thanks, Brandon!

The subtitle for Phil Cooke’s book is “Get the jump on a world that’s constantly changing.”  In Jolt!, Cooke provides his take on how to keep up with what keeps changing in today’s world, while staying grounded and energized.  The book is broken up into five sections which encourage readers to “jolt” different parts of their lives and perspective.  Cooke encourages readers to “jolt” their direction, “jolt” what matters, “jolt” their potential, “jolt” their heart, and “jolt” their future.

Many parts of this book seemed to echo others books that I’ve read encouraging readers to have goals, stay focused, and adapt to change.  I didn’t find any parts of the book shocking or extremely “jolting”, but I was challenged and stretched by the reminders.  I liked the way Cooke integrated quotes and personal stories to demonstrate his points.  I also appreciated the application to my work.  Jolt! stretched me to be more intentional when it comes to encouraging creative thinking and independent decision-making in my department.  Jolt! also stretched me personally to keep learning, keep giving, and keep accountability in my life.

All in all, I give Jolt! four “stretch marks” out of five.  I’d recommend this book whether you need a kick in the pants related to your personal or business growth.  You can purchase a copy of Jolt! by clicking the link below.  Also, consider jumping over to Phil Cooke’s blog for more insight.

When was the last time you were shocked or jolted?  How did that go?  What needs a good “jolt” in your life right now?

January 14, 2012 Week In Review

This has been an exciting week for The Stretched Blog!  On Thursday, we moved over to our own domain (from the WordPress domain).  Traffic on the old and new sites remained high this week, and I’m looking forward to the week ahead where I’ll be reviewing The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson, Frank Chiapperino will be visiting the blog on Wednesday, and The Stretched Blog will be visiting The Point on Thursday.

This week was truly a blessing as we made the transition to the new platform.  Monday’s post featured my first eBook review of Michael D. Perkin‘s Manifesto on Being Myself.  Tuesday, I shared some of my thoughts from Matthew 6.  On Wednesday, Brandon Gilliland stopped by to share his thoughts on discerning God’s will.  The new platform was introduced on Thursday.  And we ended the week with another fun ice breaker question about going back to the future.

Your continued contribution to the blog through comments is greatly appreciated.  Your comments are what makes this Stretched Community!  Please remember to take the time to Subscribe to the NEW blog, so you can have Stretched delivered daily to your e-mail inbox.  Also, don’t forget to stop by the Jon Stolpe Stretched Facebook fan page.  Become a fan to keep up with some additional Stretched stuff.  I am sharing more blog highlights from other blogs that I read regularly.  I think you’ll find some great stuff here.  Thanks!

Here are a few of my favorites from around the blog world this week:

How about you?  How was your week?  If you’re a blogger what happened over your way this week?  Did you read any great blog posts this week?  Share with the rest of us!

Guest Post – How To Have God’s Will For Your Life

Today, I have the honor of presenting Brandon Gilliland.  Brandon is a young leader with lots of passion and incredible talent.  He’s training to become a surgeon.  In his spare time, he plays the guitar, and he blogs about leadership, following Christ, playing the guitar, and becoming a surgeon.  Brandon currently writes at two blogs.  You can check them out here and here.  Please jump over and become one of his regular readers.

(If you’re interested in becoming a Stretched guest blogger, let me know in the comments, and I’ll get back to you.  I’m always looking for people to share their Stretching stories.)

How To Have God’s Will For Your Life

A question that encompasses many Christian’s lives is “How do I follow God’s will for my life?” I have wondered this myself many times. As a student on track to become a surgeon, I have many doubts in my mind. I commonly question myself the methods that I am going through. A few short months ago, a really questioned if this track was God’s will for my life. I sometimes still question it, but I am starting to discover that becoming a surgeon is what God desires for me to do with my life. It is a lot of work, but if it is God’s will for my life, He will give me the strength and the necessary opportunities that will ultimately allow me to become a surgeon.

Like I said earlier, there were a few moments when I was not sure what God’s will for my life entailed (on the career side of things). As Christians, we should desire to stay in God’s will for our lives. If we are truly following Christ, we should have the desire to please and serve Him.

If we are always questioning if what we are doing is God’s will, then how can we serve Him to our absolute best ability? The answer is rather simple: focus on God. This is easy to say, but it is not easy to live out on a daily basis. There are a few things that I have to remind myself of all the time to be able to be assured that I am living God’s will for my life.

Pray

First off, prayer is important. If prayer is not an important part of your life, you can be certain that you are not in God’s will. If you are not on the same wavelength as God, you are not going to make the decisions that He wants you to make.

“Pray without ceasing…”

-1 Thessalonians 5:17

Keep the Main Goal in Mind

After prayer is an important part of your life, you need to keep the main goal in mind. Obviously, this goal can not be set properly without consulting God first. When you believe that God has revealed to you a certain goal after you have prayed about it, you can begin to focus on that goal. Go can desire something else, but you can have the right thought pattern. That leads us to the next point…

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”

-Colossians 3:2

Focus on the Small Things

Ultimately, it is essential to know God’s main goal, but it is not beneficial to focus entirely on it. If you focus too much on the main goal, you can begin to drift. Instead, it is important to focus on the small tasks that lead to the ultimate goal. This method insures that you can follow God’s will. If you are doing everything that God wants you to do at every moment, you can be 100% sure that you are in God’s will for your life.

That is the problem though. We do not always pray. We do not always focus on God. We are not always on God’s wavelength.

This is the reason why we can stray from God’s will. He desires so much more for us, but sometimes we give up on the blessings He has for us.

What do you need to follow God’s will on?

January 7, 2012 Week In Review…

It’s time for The Stretched Blog Week in Review – the first for 2012!   The traffic to the Stretched Blog is at an all-time high this week.  In fact, blog traffic on Wednesday was the highest ever on the blog (and Thursday’s traffic was right behind).  Thank you!

Here’s the rundown on the posts for the week:

Monday:  December 2011 Top Posts

Tuesday:  Meet Irwin

Wednesday:  One Word For 2012: Transformed

Thursday:  The Stretched Blog Visits The Analogous Truth

Friday (this actually posted Saturday do to a visit to me by the stomach flu):  Ice Breaker – My First Car

Your continued contribution to the blog through comments is greatly appreciated.  Your comments are what makes this Stretched Community!  Please remember to take the time to Subscribe to the blog, so you can have Stretched delivered daily to your e-mail inbox.  Also, don’t forget to stop by the Jon Stolpe Stretched Facebook fan page.  Become a fan to keep up with some additional Stretched stuff.  I have started to share more blog highlights from other blogs that I read regularly.  I think you’ll find some great stuff here.  Thanks!

Here are a few of my favorites from around the blog world this week:

It should be a fun week upcoming.  Brandon Gilliland will be guest posting on Wednesday.  We’ll have another fun Ice Breaker on Friday.  And there’s sure to be more Stretching the rest of the week.  Please stop back so you can see what’s going on here!

How about you?  How was your week?  If you’re a blogger what happened over your way this week?  Did you read any great blog posts this week?  Share with the rest of us!