Day: August 27, 2007

Help a Brother Out

/ jasondeuman / Leave a comment

Hey Everyone,

So i started a squidoo lense to collect some of the great books I’ve been reading lately.  If you are interested in these books check out the my lense. And if you want to buy some book than that’s cool to.

The great thing about squidoo is that it helps you to raise some money by talking about something you are passionate about.  So be sure to check it out.  Say you’re into gardening, start a lense for free and then get it going.  Or if you are into needle point then get that going.  You’re an expert in your own right and squidoo let’s you tell the world.

The Radical Edge by Steve Farber — Review

/ jasondeuman / 1 Comment

This weekend I picked up Steve Farber’s The Radical Edge.

I really enjoyed the simplicity of this book. I’m finding that I enjoy the Leadership Parable format a lot more than the principle driven books. Steve Farber, Pat Lencioni, Ken Blanchard are all writing in this same vane and it’s very enjoyable. As the reader I am found myself very engaged with the characters and with the drama that surrounds their lives.

I found that this book really focuses on the person more than the organization the person works in. I think that is an important principle because as a leader if you don’t know who you are then you are just going to vacillate in your leadership, following the whims and fancies of the day. But if you really know who you are and what you want to do and where you want to do it, you will succeed.

This book has a lot of simple principles that I think are helpful and easy to initiate. The principle of the WUP (Wake-Up Pad) is great and something that I have been trying to do. Basically record what’s going on around you. I’m not very good at it, but this blog and the journal that I’ve been using have helped.

I’m considering reading it again just to really cement the concepts in my brain. But I would highly recommend this book to anyone trying to be a better leader.

GRRR

/ jasondeuman / Leave a comment

So I love the church.  When it is doing what Jesus told us to do and living how Jesus directs us to live then it’s truly a beautiful thing.  But below are some stories that I found on  MondayMorningInsights:  It’s just tragic to see such public figures making the church look like a joke.  Read at your own risk.

Wife Beating, Divorce, and Money Pleas…
Sounds like Hollywood, but it’s really the church.  This has not been a good week for church news in the mainstream media.  First, Megachurch pastors Randy and Paula White announce that they’ll be getting a divorce.  Randy will stay on and pastor the church in Florida, and Paula will take off for NYC and other places to work on her own ministry (including a pretty sizable TV gig).  You can read more here. Both blamed the two different directions their lives are going.

Meanwhile yesterday, Global Destiny Ministries members on Sunday circled their spiritual wagons around their pastor, Bishop Thomas Weeks III, now charged with beating his estranged wife, the nationally known evangelist Juanita Bynum.  According to one congregant there yesterday, “”There are three sides to every story.  Nobody has the right to judge anybody. God is in the midst of that and will work it out.” Come on… they guy beat his wife.  What’s the other side of the story?  That she deserved it?!  He has been charged with aggravated assault for allegedly choking, kicking and hitting his wife in a parking lot and making threats to kill her.  Yesterday, he told the GDM audience that it was the devil’s fault.

And finally, we have Ted Haggard’s ‘fundraising’ letter.  Haggard needs some support money for his new life stage helping the down and out; even though he’s made at least $338k since January of 2006; and still owns a house in Colorado Springs worth over $700k.

Here are three examples (in the past week alone) that show why so many people we are trying to reach have no respect for the church.  They think leaders like this are fake, and, quite frankly, a joke.  And, they think the people who blindly follow (and send money); in other words, “The Christians” are so blind and deluded, that they actually feel sorry for them.  No wonder we have such a hard time reaching people.  They think we’re naive at best, stupid at worst; and they literally want nothing to do with us.  Go figure.