Well, so much for yesterday's intended reading goal...i.e. to read in order to explore and discover and not just to complete. I chose from the box Leadership on the Line. Written by two Harvard Business School professors, this book explores the perils of leadership in general, especially through times of change. It is second business-related book that I have encountered this week, and I believe I'd rather have my eyebrows plucked than trudge through another 100 pages today. I am sure that for some this is stimulating material. For me, it is invitation to slumber.
Part of the concern is that after 18 years of ministry I find myself attaching church faces and images to the scenarios and truths they present and repeatedly saying, "Yep. Know that. Common sense." But I shall pull out the toothpicks, prop open the eyelids, and plod along this afternoon. Friends are coming this evening for shrimp and cards, so I have motivation to 'get this done'. And given that it is another cloudy, rainy day at the beach, at least the surf isn't distracting me.
Several times today I have booted the computer to no avail. It took a little wiggling and cajoling before the screen would respond. So...if you do not "hear" from me for several days, you'll know that my little lap companion is en route to Dell Customer Service for some attention and I am in search of a library or other computer station. Hopefully this was a quirk.
Blessings on this weekend. Once again, I shall miss being with you.
Part of the concern is that after 18 years of ministry I find myself attaching church faces and images to the scenarios and truths they present and repeatedly saying, "Yep. Know that. Common sense." But I shall pull out the toothpicks, prop open the eyelids, and plod along this afternoon. Friends are coming this evening for shrimp and cards, so I have motivation to 'get this done'. And given that it is another cloudy, rainy day at the beach, at least the surf isn't distracting me.
Several times today I have booted the computer to no avail. It took a little wiggling and cajoling before the screen would respond. So...if you do not "hear" from me for several days, you'll know that my little lap companion is en route to Dell Customer Service for some attention and I am in search of a library or other computer station. Hopefully this was a quirk.
Blessings on this weekend. Once again, I shall miss being with you.
2 comments:
Great to hear your musings, brother.
There is both a blessing and a danger in using corporte or organizational-modeling ideas on a church. The simple (and tragic) fact is that most corporate models in the US today have no faith component to them - even in their products.
Remember Victor Kiam and Remington Shavers? "I liked them so much, I bought the company!" Or Sam Walton and Wal-Mart. There was a famous salesman for Plymouth back in the 50's who would say, "You have to believe in your product so much that you can absolutely insist there is no better product - anywhere. If you believe like that, nothing can stop you."
How many of us feel about our Savior, or our church home, the way Victor Kiam felt about Remington shavers? I wonder...
It sounds redundant, but faith changes things. It changes organizational dynamics, it changes relationships, it changes motivations. And the assumptions that work adequately for a faith-less organization can occasionally fail spectacularly in a faith culture.
I know you know this - but it bears mentioning (especially when, as in other churches I've attended, members come forward with the latest management-by-objectives "plan of the day" and insist that "we need to do this here, too!").
I have often struggled with the thoughts that "Oh, this situation is just like the one we had back at Church X" - and it's tough not to pidgeonhole things. A friend has a powerful prayer, which I commend to you: "Lord, we know that all our songs cannot be new songs. But help us to sing the old songs, and 'tell the old, old story,' in a new voice, and with a new heart."
I have been wrestling with a cantankerous wireless router at home - so I know the challenge of being techno-deprived. Make sure you back up the critical stuff to a portable drive (you can get an external hard drive quite cheap), so you can take your stuff with you....Even one of those little 2GB key drives can help for $20...
Praying for you for inspiration, rest, clear weather, few distractions, and minimal problems with techical jiggery-pokery...
Oh, by the way, want some fun - as well as a tongue-in-cheek critique of modern church? Check this post out...some truly challenging questions.
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