dealing with failure.
hope that you did not come here to read something particularly pithy or insightful. i honestly have got nothing today. but this made me laugh… so on the subject of failure… enjoy.
had an interesting meeting the other day…
no. it was not about copiers. Read more
wild goose chase review
i have been given the disctinct honor of reviewing mark batterson’s new book and i am excited to tell you all about it!
brief history: my staff team has been going through a period of transition and reorganization as we strive to be more effective in caring for the poor and needy in orange county and around the world. our team has grown over the past few years and our infrastructure has not kept pace with our ministry, so we determined to build the structure to hold up our current ministry and extend our ability to grow even more in the future! part of this has been a time of fear and uncertainty as we have all had to hold very loosely how we have always operated… and we have always operated very well… but we believe we can go from good to great. part of our process was as a team we read through mark’s first book “In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day”. We broke up into small groups to discuss and process as a part of our organizational changes. we fell in love with the book and the concepts that mark teaches about. when I heard that mark was writing another book I got excited to read and delve further into his unique teachings.
i was not disappointed!
mark’s style is engaging and approachable. i was able to read this book in just a few short sittings (the add kicked in a little… but 2 days is good for me… i have some books on my nightstand for months!). mark extends his teaching from the first book and presents the readers with some new challenges to live a life of surrender and abandon. I don’t want to give too much of the book away… you need to go and purchase a copy right now… seriously… click here and buy one for yourself and your team.
you’re back? did you buy a copy? okay… then I will share some of my favorite quotes.
There are some things you don’t need to pray about. You don’t need to pray about whether you should love your neighbor. You don’t need to pray about whether you should give generously or serve sacrificially. You don’t need to pray whether you should bless someone when it is within your power to do so. God has already spoken. What you need to do is quit praying and start acting.
Guilt has a shrinking effect. It shrinks our dreams. It shrinks our relationships. It shrinks our hearts. It shrinks our lives to the size of our greatest failure. Grace has the opposite effect. It expands our dreams. It expands our relationships. It expands our hearts. And it gives us the courage to chase the Wild Goose all the way to the ends of the earth.
So thank you mark for writing this important book. thank you for reminding us that GOD wants us to be men and women of action. that GOD wants us to surrender completely to him. for the simple message that we have to come out of our cage and CHASE THE WILD GOOSE!
now the legal stuff…
be sure to check out the website www.chasethegoose.com for resources and downloads.
book summary
Most of us have no idea where we’re going most of the time. Perfect.
“Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something….
Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.” –from the introduction.
Author Bio:
Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of Washington, DC’s National Community Church, widely recognized as one of America’s most innovative churches. NCC meets in movie theaters at metro stops throughout the city, as well as in a church-owned coffee house near Union Station. More than seventy percent of NCC’ers are single twentysomethings who live or work on Capitol Hill. Mark is the author of the best-selling In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and a widely read blogger (www.markbatterson.com). He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Lora, and their three children.
how many abbreviations can one brain hold?
answer. 147.
today, the Copier Resource Assesement Panel, visted the canon usa facility in irvine. after our last copy center demo our team approached this visit with some trepidation. we ate lunch on the way there and we nervously laughed about what we should expect. we were not however disappointed by the canon team.
they were throughly profession in their discovery and succincent in their presentation. they offered enough detail to make us understand the technology, and yet they moved quick enough from subject to subject that we did not get bored with the mundane. we learned about: mfd’s, sso and about a hundred other 3 & 4 letter abreviations. it was all good though. we learned about how we can manage cost recovery & accounting, how a user would print files, access the menus, scan files, clear a jam, load paper & create booklets.
all in all a good time was had by all and it created some very good discussion. hopefully the finances and details will come together now.
another day another copier.
so yesterday included a meeting with our friendly canon business solutions reps. what a difference a few days can make in how I think about and feel about copiers. very professional presentation. these guys understood what it meant to listen and understand our needs. what is ironic about all of this is that they got their foot in the door by a cold call that lead to a conversation that has lead to a great understanding of needs and products. so now the question is: will their machines and cost structure meet our requirements. again, only time will tell. this I can tell you… if I needed to pick from canon or xerox who I would rather have coffee with… it would be canon. on the other hand… if I am having coffee with our copier salesmen, then I have other issues I need to sort out.
my day with xerox.
gather around children and listen to my tale of woe. not really. just being dramatic. our copier resource assessment panel gathered for lunch and a field trip to xerox for a copier demonstration. we however were treated to so much more! during the course of our two hour tour we got to experience multiple scanning solutions, color copiers and they even provided cookies!
here are some of my thoughts…
- listen to your customers. we specifically requested to hear about the color copiers that we are looking at for the office areas. we did not ask to hear about scanning solutions or production color machines. we got antsy during the first hour of our visit because we were being given content we did not ask for.
- attempt to be interesting. mariners is pretty corporate for a church… but this place took the cake. we entered the colorless, bland conference room and were seated facing a screen. we quickly learned that the first part of our presentation was a webex meeeting… a jigga what? so we sat and stared at a bad powerpoint presentation being given over the phone. seriously… picture this - our team of 5 and the xerox team of 6 all staring at a screen and listenening to 2 people at the other end of the phone. priceless. best line… “i’m now approaching the copier” no joke… they were “demonstrating” the product for us over the phone.
- make sure your product actually works. it’s great that you want to try and show us all the shiny new features of your machine, but when it won’t print the files we sent over LAST WEEK then “houston, we have a problem!” also the booklet maker did not work, the copies were on glossy paper (which we do not every use), the black toner is just as shiny as ever and the print driver needed to be downloaded and reinstalled.
- pick someone to lead the presentation. of the 6 people in the room with us the whole time, no one ever took the lead. at various points, they were actually talking over one another. now, i understand this is sales and everyone wants in… but for real? one person could have lead the discussion and brought in experts as needed.
at the end of the 2 hours the sales rep had the gaul to ask our team point person if we had gotten everything we needed while we were there. ummmm no. the copier did not print our samples as requested. we had been overloaded with info we did not need and the only reason the demo ended was because we finally said we were leaving.
so what can we learn? learn everything you can about your audience. make sure that your message is designed to mee their needs and not yours. don’t try to sell something unless you are sure it will work. and most of all keep it simple. one clear voice would have gotten much farther than the six mixed messages we received. will we renew our xerox lease? who knows… so much goes into the decision beyond this one visit, but if this was their one chance to impress they would be given a failing grade.
update: turns out that xerox is reading my blog! who knew? anywhoo… spent some time on the phone with the manager of the santa ana branch and discussed in great detail how xerox could meet or exceed our expectations. now only time will tell.
crazy christians.
saw this on another blog today and thought it might provide an interesting conversation starter.
hey church… here is an idea… let’s don’t defend ourselves or boycott, or call mr. maher crazy… let’s just show love the way to Jesus commanded!
leadership summit day two.
great learnings all the way around. great leaders sharing their wisdom is always one of my favorite things. craig groshchel was incredible, chuck colson is greay, catherine rohr was inspiring. thank you to bill hybels and the whole team at willow for caring enough about leaders to invest your time and energy to help build us up. it takes a special organization to be willing to create margin to do what only they can do. in the case of willow that is building leaders. in the case of lifechurch.tv that is applying new technologies to make the world seem a little smaller.
craig ended his talk (and I am also told his book, which I have not read yet) with this fancisican blessing. i think it is one of my favorite take aways from the summit this year…
“May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and the exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, and starvation, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.”
a litany.
today in our staff meeting we talked about our current process of assessment. one component of this season is a talent assessment designed to provide a baseline for everyone on our team and provide a roadmap for further development. self assessment can be fearful at times, espcially during times of change. to alleviate that fear we spent time in study and prayer as a team on what it means to really be comfortable with knowing that God is in control. He is the vine and we are the branches.
one of the members of our team brought a “litany of humility” to the team to use a framework for the prayer we should be praying as team. it focused our team and provided a time of surrender as we read the following words as a team.
Litany of Humility
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, O Jesus.From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, O Jesus.That others may be loved more than I,
O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may, increase and I may decrease,
O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy as I should,
O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.This prayer was written by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), the secretary of state for Pope Saint Pius X
what a powerful reminder of our position with God & others.
in the middle.
mariners is a big church with an equally big staff. there is a lot going on here.
today I was in the middle.
as I look hard at the near future and try to plan, God shows up and rocks the boat. HE reminds me that he is holding everything that is going on. in the midst of all of my frustration today i realized I was trying to control… set an agenda and move where I was comfortable.
so tomorrow is a new day. i am going to embrace the middleness and work to find ways to leverage the middle. why? because here in the middle we are engaging thousands of people to serve hurting people here in orange county and around the world. people are going to bed tonight fed and clothed and secure in their relationship with God because we are intently listening to God and following his lead. when I think about it like that, the middle seems like a pretty good place to be.
