About the Book
"MAKING VISION STICK" by stanley is a practical guide on how to effectively communicate and implement a vision within an organization. The book provides clear strategies and techniques for making a vision memorable, engaging, and actionable for all members of the team. Through compelling stories and case studies, the author demonstrates the power of a strong vision and offers practical steps for ensuring its success.
Steven Curtis Chapman
Steven Curtis Chapman is an American Christian musician, singer, song writer, record producer, actor, author and social activist. He is the only artist in the history of music to have won 56 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards and is also a proud receiver of 5 Grammy Awards. His music is known for being a unique cross between country music, soft rock and orchestrated pop, which made him a prominent artist in the contemporary Christian music circuit of the 1980s. Chapman grew up in a humble environment where he found his calling for music, owing to his fatherâs inclination towards country music. He learnt to play instruments like guitar and piano just by hanging around in his fatherâs music store, listening to him play along with his friends. He took up music seriously when he moved to Nashville and got recognized by Sparrow Records, a company he stayed with for a long period in his career. He has released 19 studio albums and has sold over 10 million albums until now. Chapman is a family oriented person just like his father and has a big family comprising of his wife Mary Beth and 3 biological and 2 adopted children. He is a vocal advocate for adoption and has worked socially to eradicate the problem of youth violence.
Childhood & Early Life
Steven Curtis Chapman was born on November 21, 1962 in Paducah, Kentucky, to Herb and Judy Chapman. His father was a country singer and songwriter, who turned down opportunities to become a successful singer to concentrate on his family. His mother was a stay-at-home mom.
His father owned a music store, a business he managed from his basement and used to play music with his friends. Such creative environment at home influenced Chapmanâs life from very early on and he bought his first guitar at 6.
Chapman joined as a pre-med student at Georgetown College in Kentucky but after few semesters he moved to Anderson College, Indiana. But he ultimately dropped the idea of studying and went to Nashville to pursue his first love, music.
During 1980s, he wrote a song âBuilt to Lastâ, which gained huge popularity after getting recorded by a gospel group âThe Imperialsâ. The success of the song fetched Chapman a songwriting deal with Sparrow Records.
Career
Chapmanâs first official album âFirst Handâ was released in 1987. The album was an instant hit with singles like âWeak Daysâ and topped at number 2 on the Contemporary Christian Music chart. The album had a mix of country music with soft rock and pop.
In 1988, following the success of his first album, Chapman released âReal Life Conversationsâ. Its hit single âHis Eyesâ received the âContemporary Recorded Song of the Yearâ award from the âGospel Music Associationâ. He co-wrote it with James Isaac Elliot.
After a few years, he made a swift turn to mainstream music with his album âThe Great Adventureâ in 1992. It earned him two Grammy awards for the album and for the title song of the album.
After gaining consistent success with albums like âHeaven in the Real World (1994), âSigns of Life (1996) and âSpeechless (1999), Chapmanâs next great album âDeclarationâ came out in 2001, for which he toured 70 cities.
In 2003, âAll About Loveâ was released and it ranked at Top 15 on the Christian Music charts. It was released under Sparrow Records and Chapman very humbly credited his wife Mary Beth for being the inspiration for his album.
âAll Things Newâ was released in 2004 and the album added another Grammy to Chapmanâs proud award collection. This time he received it in the category of Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album. It was also nominated for the Dove Award.
In 2005, âAll I Really Want for Christmasâ was released, which was Chapmanâs another successful Christmas album after âThe Music of Christmasâ. It had traditional holiday tunes and favorites like âGo Tell It on the Mountainâ and Silver Bellsâ.
Chapman took his music to greater levels by taking his concert to South Korea for the U.S. troops who were serving there in 2006. It was the first Christian concert that ever performed for the American army in that country.
In 2007, he released âThis Momentâ which included hit singles like âCinderellaâ, for which he was chosen for WOW Hits 2009. He also went on his âWinter Jamâ tour and took his sonsâ, Caleb and Willâs band along.
âBeauty Will Riseâ, Chapmanâs seventeenth album, was released in 2009. It is said that he wrote the songs of the album after getting inspired by his daughter Maria Sueâs sad and untimely demise. It included songs like âMeant to Beâ and âRe:creationâ.
In 2012, Chapman finally parted ways with Sparrow Records, the record company that he remained loyal to for so many years. He was signed on by Sonyâs Provident Label Group and came out with a Christmas album called âJOYâ.
âThe Glorious Unfoldingâ was released in 2013 under Reunion Records and it peaked on number 27 on the Billboard 200 and was number 1 Top Christian Album. The album was produced by Chapman himself and Brent Milligan.
Major Works
Chapmanâs âThe Great Adventureâ in 1992 was a turning point in his musical career because until now he was making soft and contemporary country music but with âThe Great Adventureâ he targeted the mainstream audience and tasted huge commercial success for the first time.
Awards & Achievements
Chapman is the winner of five Grammy awards for albums like âFor the Sake of the Callâ âThe Great Adventureâ âThe Live Adventureâ, âSpeechlessâ and âAll Things Newâ. He has also received 56 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, more than any other artist.
Personal Life & Legacy
Chapman got married to Mary Beth in 1984 after they first met at Anderson University in Indiana. They have three biological children: Emily, Caleb and Will and three adopted children: Shaohannah, Stevey and Maria, together.
In 2008, Chapmanâs youngest son Will ran over his car by accident on his adopted daughter Maria Sue Chunxi Chapman. She was running towards him to meet him but he did not see her and she was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Trivia
Chapmanâs wife Mary Beth Chapman has written and released a book about losing her youngest daughter called âChoosing to SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hopeâ.
Chapman and his wife have written three children's books with adoption themes: âShaoey And Dot: Bug Meets Bundleâ (2004), âShaoey and Dot: The Christmas Miracleâ (2005), and âShaoey and Dot: A Thunder and Lightning Bug Storyâ (2006).
He has received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Anderson University.
What Cravings Will Take from You
We spend our lives with hands out and mouths open, looking for what we might consume. This is our experience as humans, in part because of how God designed us: we eat because our bodies require energy, and we reach with gentle affection for those we love out of a shared hunger for relationships. Weâre born in need, and our desires, implanted by God himself (Acts 17:24â27), send us on a search for fullness of joy. Our desires, however, so easily turn into obsessions, leading us into wild over-consumption (James 4:1â3). Our desires become cravings, the ultimate pursuit and point of life itself. Rather than signals meant to send us off in exploration for the original source of joy (Psalm 16:11), they instead become taskmasters, demanding our undivided loyalty and taking our peace and joy right along with them. In our unchecked drive to consume, we ourselves become the ones consumed. My Primary (False) Allegiance When we donât allow our desires to send us seeking fullness of joy from the source of all joy â God himself â we develop an allegiance to false kings. My primary false allegiance is to the love and admiration that come from other people. I crave validation, and I find myself performing for it like a circus animal. This is how Iâve come to know just how much Iâve allowed this false king to rule over me: the past few years have been brutal, full of confusion and emotional pain. Somewhere along the way, my heart, bowing before this false king, started aching for belonging. I started wondering if my presence mattered as a person and not as a performance. I started wondering if I was truly known. I started wondering if anyone might notice my need. My deep self-focus drew me further and further inside, and at some point I simply disengaged my heart. If I couldnât have what I craved, I would not give of myself any longer. I began to look back at who I once was and how passionately Iâd loved others, and I wanted so badly to be that person again. But I couldnât manufacture love, and I started to believe that joy would never come again. My heart instead felt hard and apathetic, looking to be served, noticing every slight, envying the belonging of others. False Kings Only Take The trouble for an idolatrous heart (and the gift for the repentant heart) is that God will stubbornly interrupt and intercept our pursuit of joy as we seek it in anything less than him. He will not give us lasting peace in our false allegiances, because he is jealous for us to have the actual peace weâre pursuing. In those years of struggle, a chorus of people could have sung my praises, and it never would have settled as peace in my heart. Anytime a friend offered a word of encouragement, my mind immediately turned to panic: âWhat must I do to keep that love?â Or Iâd think, âWhat about the one who didnât voice encouragement? How do I win her over?â I was so hungry and thirsty that I was withering away, consumed by what I was trying to consume. False kings never give; they only take. Kings Who Take When the prophet Samuel was growing old, the Israelites worried about their future. Samuel had mediated for them well as both priest and prophet before God, but they needed a new leader, and humanly speaking, there were no options available. Samuelâs sons, the next sure thing for the nation, didnât walk in the ways of the Lord, so the elders sought answers by looking around at how other nations were structured. They approached Samuel with their solution: âNow appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nationsâ (1 Samuel 8:5). At first glance, this doesnât seem like such a bad request, but Scripture says it displeased Samuel, and it also displeased God, because the elders hadnât thought to bring God into their calculations (1 Samuel 8:6â9). Did they not already have a King? They had, in effect, spurned the perfect rule of the One whoâd delivered, provided for, led, and protected them, and theyâd turned in their desire toward another option. They werenât ready to reject God entirely. They just wanted him plus a safe, tangible plan B king like everyone else around them. Samuelâs response is a fair warning to us as well about plan B kings: they will only take from you. Samuel warns that a king appointed by people takes sons and sends them to war, takes children and turns them into slave labor, takes daughters into his service, and takes crops in order to feed his servants (1 Samuel 8:10â17). Samuel knows what false kings do: they take our best and then make us their slaves. Kingdoms with Two Kings We tend to believe the same as the Israelite elders: What will it hurt to have God and also hedge our bets a little? We want to believe we can pledge allegiance to King Jesus and also throw our heart to human kings or human things. But the Bible is plain: No one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). A divided kingdom cannot stand (Matthew 12:25). Jesus is our king, not merely a wise consultant we turn to when we need to know what to do. And as the Israelite leaders show us, a divided heart is actually not divided at all: it has already chosen sides. A divided heart is one thatâs spurned God. We turn toward false kings who we think will give us comfort, security, belonging, approval, validation, love, sexual gratification â but in the end they only take. They promise life but give death. Consumed to Satisfy But God. Through Jesus Christ, he made a way for us out of this death spiral, giving us a direction to point our desires, providing something we can consume that doesnât consume us in return. Jesus came saying, Repent and believe (Mark 1:15). His words were an invitation, a stretched-out hand, an open door for us to enter with him into the kingdom of God. Jesus came saying, This is my body, broken for you. This is my blood, poured out for you (Luke 22:19â20). Feed on me (John 6:51â58). Jesus was consumed by death precisely so that we would feast on him. This king is called Bread of Life (John 6:35) and Living Water (John 4:13â14), so we might know we can, in our hunger, eat, and in our thirst, drink. When we consume him, we find ourselves consuming his good rule, loving provision, and peaceful reign. We cannot reach the end of him, but in him we can certainly satisfy the longing underlying all of our desires: the longing for joy. The King Who Gives The Israelites placed a mirror before my heart, helping me see my false allegiances clearly. My actions were their actions: turning toward kings who couldnât fulfill their promises. Like them, my desires and needs werenât all wrong; what had been wrong was where I turned with them. I turned in repentance to Jesus and found joy again in allegiance to him. Do you have a need? A desire? Submit it totally to King Jesus. He doesnât just require our allegiance, as if obedience is a form of punishment or something through which we grit our teeth. His demand of wholeheartedness is an invitation to receive what is his: the very kingdom (Matthew 5:3). He opens his treasury to us, sharing his peace, love, joy, life, and fruitfulness. And perhaps best of all, we receive his allegiance in return (Romans 8:38â39; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5). He is a king who gives. Article by Christine Hoover
