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Ron Edmondson

Friday Discussion: Is Social Media a Blessing or a Curse?

By Culture, Innovation

There’s a consistent debate about the role of social media in our lives today.

There’s no doubt that I’ve embraced the cultural shift of socail media, but because of it, I received criticism for not doing other things. I’ve been online doing ministry for over 16 years and have developed good systems that allow me to do much online efficiently, but I knew it was “catching on” when my mother got on Facebook. Still, it does take time and, with limited time for all of us, that time has to take away from something else.

I’ve heard people say it would have been better for the family had the television never been invented. I’ve heard the debates on social media also. Some feel we shouldn’t be doing it all at all. I wonder wgat the same people would say of social media.

More importantly, I’m wondering today what you will say.

Let’s discuss the role of social media. Consider these questions, then add your thoughts in a comment.

Should the church be involved in social media?
Does social media help or hurt a relationship?
Are Facebook or Twitter beneficial to a relationship or is a distraction in building true friendships?
In a perfect world, would we have social media?
Does it add to or take away from the quality of our lives?
Is it an unavoidable evil or a blessing for us all?
Be honest!

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February 11, 2011
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A Weather Reminder…About Life

By Culture, Devotional, Encouragement, Faith, Fear

This has been a wild winter…

“They” say it’s not our worst…not even close…but it certainly has seemed to be more intense than usual this year…

Every morning I look at my Google Home Page and see the current and future weather forecast. Seeing the 4 degrees this morning caused my initial reaction to be “Wow!” I was bummed. I’m ready to get outside. It could have affected my mood for the day (probably will to some extent), but then I looked a little further into the weather future forecast. Do you see that number? 54! Fifty-Four degrees! My thought was “Yippee!” If I can hang on a few days, it’s about to get wonderful outside!

I wonder how many times we do that in life. That weather picture could also serve as a picture of our life at times. Some days it’s cold and dreary…other days it’s bright and sunny. We struggle during the rough weather seasons, forgetting that this day will change. When we only look at our current situation, we can be disheartened, but a new day is coming! As believers, we have the promise of a greater future. If not today, or tomorrow, soon and very soon! I’m reminded of a couple favorite verses of truth.

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him— 1 Corinthians 2:9

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Do you need that reminder today? Take your eyes off today and look a little further down the road. Good days are coming. If you’re in difficult days, I’m praying God brings better days soon, but He has promised that the best days are yet to come!

Let me hear from you…

Are you currently living in a 4 degree time of life…or is it 54 and sunny in your world during this season of your life?

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February 10, 2011
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The Path to a God-Given Assignment

By Church, Encouragement, Faith, Fear, Leadership

God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. 1 Thessalonians 5:24

I’ve learned that the path to accomplishing a God-given dream is paved with faith.

When you experience fear, face risks, have set-backs, encounter critics and realize frustrations, it’s the faith of knowing the God who called you to the task will be faithful to complete it. f you are facing the temptation to give up a God-given assignment, perhaps instead of quitting, you need to spend some time renewing your faith in the God who chose you for this assignment.

Have you experienced this firsthand?

Do you need this reminder today?

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February 9, 2011
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Help Me Address Organizational Fear

By Business, Encouragement, Fear, Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Team Leadership

We have a healthy team. It’s full of grace, which works well, since that word is in our name. We consistently laugh together. We encourage each other to accomplish our goals. As a leader, I solicit feedback consistently. (I even allow the staff to anonymously evaluate me each year. Read about that process HERE.) We are generally flexible and laid back as an organization, yet we accomplish much towards our mission. I’ve worked in lots of environments and this is a good one…a healthy place to work. I’ve written articles about healthy teams, many of them based on the team on which I serve. (Read some of them HERE, HERE, or HERE.) I think our team would agree.

Still, I’m not sure we have eliminated what I call organizational fear. I’m not sure there is 100% freedom to share what’s on a person’s heart. I consistently address this concern. I’ve even said that sometimes we are too “nice” as an organization. We need to challenge more, even enter into healthy conflict, but sometimes it seems we are timid towards sharing our true feelings; especially some on the team. Problems exist…people see them…they continue for months…everyone recognizes something is wrong….yet no ones brings them to the surface. This is not a huge problem, or we wouldn’t be as healthy or successful as we are, but for whatever reason, some I may not understand, team members at times shy away from sharing what’s really on their mind.

Why is that? ….

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February 9, 2011
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3 Song Lyrics that have Proven True

By Culture, Encouragement, Funny

The older I get, the more I reflect on the past. Is that part of the aging process?

Recently I heard a song that was popular when I was young. I don’t know all the words to the song, so I’m not talking about the meaning of the song necessarily, but there was a line in the song that resonated with me. The song lyric has become more than a catchy tune…it’s proven to have some insight into my life. I’m sure this is true of many secular songs.

Here are three that quickly come to mind:

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February 8, 2011
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How Happy Are You In Life? (A Survey)

By Culture, Funny

How happy are you in life?

I’ve shared things I read in Southwest Air’s Spirit Magazine before and recently I saw “The I Exam”. First listed in Pyschology Today, it’s a questionnaire designed to help determine how happy we are in life. While I am not sure we can measure true happiness in an 8 question survey, I thought this was interesting and worth sharing to fuel thoughts and discussion.

Here is the I Exam:

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February 6, 2011
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The Inner Resolve to Overcome: Lesson from this week in Chicago

By Culture, Encouragement, Faith, Fear, Life Plan, Vision

I’ve been amazed this week at the resolve of the people of Chicago. Reportedly this week saw the worst snow storm since 1967. I’ve not been through a blizzard before, so this was an experience. You can read why I’m here in THIS POST.

What amazes me is how the people responded so quickly. Even before the storm hit, people were taking precautions, but during and after the storm, people spread salt, shoveled snow, pitched in to help one another, and quickly got back to normal. Many places were closed early Wednesday, hours after the snow ended, but many were open by the afternoon. By Thursday everyone was seemingly back to normal. There’s still a lot of snow on the group, you have to be careful where you walk, but people have gone about their business…in spite of the largest snow the average Chicagoan has ever seen.

Why?

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February 5, 2011
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Scripture Memorization, Week 6

By Encouragement

We continue our Scripture Memorization each week in 2011. I hope you are hiding God’s Word in your heart. See the related posts for this post if you need to catch up with any of the previous posts.

This week’s memory verse has gotten me through some hard weeks…at least the truth of it has…

How are you living out this command of God?

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February 5, 2011
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Friday Discussion: Where Do You Belong?

By Culture

Today for Friday discussion, I want to talk about belonging….

To belong means: to have the proper qualifications, especially social qualifications, to be a member of a group; be suitable or acceptable…

This could be a difficult subject for some…not because the questions I’m going to ask are necessarily difficult questions…but because the answers could hurt…cause pain…

I believe, however, that there is an inner need in each of us feel that we belong someowhere. Until we find a place where we feel welcomed by others…a place where we feel loved, accepted, and secure in our relationship, we will continue to search.

Chip Ingram said recently that the reasons for a joining a country club or a gang are the same…we are all searching for a place to belong.

So, today, would you dialogue with me and other readers.

Here are the questions to consider:

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February 4, 2011
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