So, some of you know I was in Vegas during the shooting, but most of you don’t know why. I wanted to give people some information on what I am doing and how I am doing and finally how i am processing it.
I flew in on Thursday afternoon to attend a fantastic conference called Thrive. Myself and about 30 others came as a group to attend A gathering of entrepreneurs who’s purpose is to create successful companies for the purpose of having massive impact in the world. We were the largest group attending this conference. thats the trophy in the pic above. You can imagine that the quality of people there were high level individuals from all faiths and backgrounds. Many of the speakers volunteered to speak because they believed in what we represented. Nobody had any agendas or ways to up-sell or leverage the audience to participate or manipulate us to serve any specific agenda. It was really awesome and the community built there was incredible.
After a successful 3 day conference, I went out to dinner with some great new friends and headed back to my hotel and did a quick change and grabbed my Backpack. The internet hadn’t been working on the hotel and i thought i would go do some exploring on the Vegas Strip and download some emails along the way. I have been to vegas multiple times but have NEVER been able to really see it.
I was headed toward the strip when I heard some “fireworks”. They stopped pretty quickly and honestly I thought nothing about them. It was when I saw a man running and yelling at people as he ran by that i got suspicious. i changed directions to be safe when he eventually caught up to me. out of breath he managed to get out, “ Don’t go that way, theres a terrorist attack and bodies everywhere!” He ran off and eventually i caught back up to him still doubting him but concerned. I had never walked the streets of Vegas at night so i had no idea what was “normal”. We were standing at a crosswalk and by this time he had taken his shirt off and i could see he was a security guard because his radio and earpiece was still attached. He bent over and vommiting right in the gutter. The signs added up to emotional distress and i knew he was telling the truth and it wasn’t drug related. I decided to duck and cover into a Starbucks to get more information before i posted online. I was almost hit by a police car while crossing the street as he was part of the first responders. Another clue for me that something serious was happening.
fast forwarded, as I sat in Starbucks, i watched the ENDLESS caravan of cop cars, Ambulances and emergency vehicles shuttling people from the music venue and the hospital. I was watching hundreds of people walking and running away from the strip as they headed home to loved ones. I eventually was able to get an Uber and I got a ride to my hotel. there was no way i was going to walk outside.
When I got to my hotel, I met up with some friends and we watched the news and tethered ourselves to our phones watching and reaching out to our friends, MANY of which were stuck in lockdown inside the basements and cafeterias inside the hotels immediately surrounding the venue. At this point, we still weren’t certain if it was truly 1 shooter or multiple shooters inside multiple hotels.
I posted this youtube video the other day – some of my friends and speakers share the experience.
Eventually I was exhausted and I went to sleep. When I woke up, I went for a walk to find some breakfast. I passed many people that were literally JUST being released from those hotels and making their way back to checkout of the hotel and catch a flight. I walked by the Mandalay Bay Hotel, were the shooting was reported to come from. I looked up and saw multiple broken windows. I still can’t figure out why multiple windows were broken. I prayed while i walked, released peace, healing and safety over the city and then had to jump onto my plane. My friend scot from academy of Skiing, missed his flight so he came over to my terminal and spent a good 20 minutes with me before i flew out. Probably one of the most impactful 20 minutes I’ve experienced in a long time as we shared and processed what we had experienced, our faith, how we are to respond to these type of horrible events. It actually inspired this thought process below and many other ideas as well. Im sorry if this alienates anybody, but its very christian and fundamental to who I am and how I see life.
It was hard for me to see people so lost and shaken. I watched as people would cling to whatever comforts they had to grab on to, some of them to faith, friends, family. Others however, were lost , broken, with no solid truth to stand on, distraught and in shock over what they had experienced. You could truly see that the foundation of what they had built their beliefs on, was suffering and failing them as it crumbled at the weight of this tragedy.
In 1 Corinthians 3, it talks about exactly this. It addresses us as brothers, sisters, leaders and how we get caught up in meaningless or petty things, things that don’t make a difference. Things that distract us from the truth of our purpose here on earth. We build our own opinions, ideas and beliefs on these false truths or meaningless issues. It talks about us not receiving a heavenly inheritance because we are occupied by false truths, sin, or other meaningless things of the world.
I hear people talking about finding their “truth” and speaking their truth. I have even been guilty of saying things like “finding my voice”. These things aren’t wrong, but they are signs that we are missing the truth. The Truth is a person and his name is Jesus Christ. He died so we can inherit a heavenly reward. By this act, he laid a foundation of truth that we are to build our house on. A house that can stand with such strength that no storm can destroy it. This house is built on a foundation that is literally from heaven. Its this “TRUTH” that we should all build on.
When a tragedy like Las Vegas happens, and we see these lost people, its our opportunity to love, support and take them into our “house” and demonstrate the truth. I never really understood what it meant by “lost” until this experience. When people are shaken, it forces you to re-evaluate many things in your life, like what is important.
If you don’t believe in Church, or Religion, no worries, these words speak to a higher truth, GOD.
Many will ask, “Why does God let this happen” or some variation. And there isn’t a simple answer. But I can say this, God is always good. This is a non-negotiable. When evil things happen, its exactly that, EVIL.
The Opportunity for the believer in the midst of a battle, is to agree with heaven and release the truth as defined above. I am to love people, bring truth and healing. I am to invite the lost to be in my house. While we suffer, we are not victims. We stand on the truth that God is good always, and we release peace and love in the midst of the storm. When tragedy strikes, we are to stand strong on our foundation.
In Mathew 6:10, it says that we are to release the kingdom and HIS will on earth. This means that our inheritance isn’t just in eternity when we die. It means we literally have the opportunity to release heaven on earth! We are to speak deliverance from evil. Again, Jesus quiets the storm in Mark 4:35-41. If you believe in Jesus, you must believe that we were called to calm the storms and bring heaven to earth. Why else would we pray like Acts 4 for boldness if we aren’t to exercise faith that it will happen? Isaiah 65 is another beautiful passage that talks about heaven and earth.
As an entrepreneur, I hear this as a calling to the type of business I am to build and the leader that I want to be. I want to build a business that carries impact that goes beyond my earthly abilities. I know that if I’m going to “make money matter” that it must be built on a foundation of truth and used to glorify Gods kingdom because its the only thing that exists in eternity.
People ask me all the time, if I make commercials or movies. This is what i always want to say.
“I DONT make movies or videos, I create high value media with the purpose of having incredible impact.”
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