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Ron Edmondson Leadership Blog

Packed with practical thoughts on leadership, church, and culture

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    God is Bigger

    By Devotional, Encouragement, Faith, God

    “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 2 Kings 6;16 NIV

    God is bigger than any obstacle in your way today!

    There, I have said my point for the this post.

    Small children put great faith in their fathers (and mothers). When my youngest son was only a few years old, I remember hearing him brag to one of his friends about what I could do. I didn’t correct him, but he was far over-selling my abilities. He believed, however, that I was fully capable of handling all of his problems.(He’s since learned how limited I am!)

    Jesus said we are to come to Him with the mind of a child. The good news here is that you can brag about the abilities of your Heavenly Father. He is God! What more needs to be said? He created the tallest mountain, the fluffiest cloud, the sweetest apple, the highest wave, the fastest horses…and He created you! He shaped the trunk of an elephant and painted the spots on a ladybug. He is the designer and orchestrator of everything in the Universe! He has more power in a single word, than a 10,000 armies have in all their armaments.

    Let me ask you a very serious question today?

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    February 27, 2011
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    Scripture Memorization, Week 9

    By Encouragement, God

    It’s time for another Bible verse to remember. I realize some of you may be new to this, but I hope you’ll still tag along.

    This week is an easy verse, but oh so powerful! Can you imagine if we just practiced this verse for a week?

    And I think it’s fairly easy to memorize also…

    Here’s this week’s memory verse:

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    February 26, 2011
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    Friday Discussion: What’s the Purpose of Marriage?

    By Marriage

    What’s the purpose of marriage?

    We are doing a series called Family Ties at Grace Community Church next month and I’m speaking three times on marriage. It begins with a look at the purpose of marriage. I’m not convinced we all know…or perhaps even agree…with what the purpose of marriage. Of course, we will look at what the Bible says about marriage, but I’m curious…

    As I prepare, dialogue with me on this post. I want your opinion. I believe the Bible should shape our thoughts, not a person’s opinion, but I also believe understanding what people believe will help me prepare to address this from a Biblical perspective. Also, while I believe the Bible gives some clear purposes for marriage, I realize some of that is subject to interpretation of Scripture.

    So, will you help me? Consider these questions to fuel your thoughts.

    What do you believe is/are the purpose/s of marriage?

    Is it better for some people not to marry?

    Do you think some people marry for the wrong reasons?

    Is the Bible clear on “all” the purposes of marriage?

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    February 25, 2011
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    That Inner Nervous Energy…Some of Us Thrive On It

    By Church, Culture, Encouragement, Fear, Leadership, Life Plan, Vision

    Do you know that nervous energy you get when you face the uncertainty of life?

    You feel it when you assume a overwhelming risk?

    It’s that emotion…that adrenaline rush…

    You feel it deep in your gut…

    Ever felt it?

    Well here’s the reality…

    Some of us…as awkward, difficult, stressful, and even painful as it can be…

    Live for that emotion…

    You’ll find it in…

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    February 24, 2011
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    Connecting with our Community…Partnering with our Schools

    By Children, Church, Culture, Encouragement, Family

    I love the vision Grace Community Church has to impact our community. Our people serve their community throughout the year. The largest project, and the one that draws the most attention, is our annual Operation Serve held each fall where hundreds of volunteers serve in a one (sometimes two) day blitz of community needs. I’ve written about it before HERE. This past year over 1,300 people logged some 10,000 hours of service to our community meeting all kinds of practical needs.

    Well, another project is stirring interest. Our community, like many others nationwide, have experienced struggles adequately funding school systems. Enter Operation Serve School Edition.

    April 9th we hope to have hundreds of people volunteering in all 35 schools in our public school district. Operations Serve School Edition invites the community to participate with our church in landscaping, painting, cleaning, and completing other things the school needs done, but the budget simply can’t provide. The schools are compiling lists now and materials are being acquired.

    To accomplish such a large task, we are also partnering with 5 Star Radio Group. They are providing publicity to recruit volunteers and providing tremendous moral support the day of the event with live remotes.

    It’s catching on already. Here are a few articles already talking about Operation Serve School Edition:

    Operation Serve: School Edition
    Church aims to renovate entire school system
    Church To Fix Up 35 Schools In 1 Day: Grace Community Church In Clarksville Seeks Volunteers
    Besides the fact that we meet in a school…actually two schools…and doing a church our size and age would be very difficult without this partnership, it makes sense to partner with our schools because:

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    February 22, 2011
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    Help Me Define My Voice

    By Church, Family, Leadership, Uncategorized

    I need your help. If you regularly read this blog I’d love to hear from you. Even if you’ve never commented before, consider doing so on this post.

    I’ve been active online for over 15 years now and I see what I do here as an extension of my calling in ministry I’m consistently encouraged by the professionals…bloggers, pastor friends and book publishers…to define my life focus. Supposedly if I do I can write a book about it. Currently I simply post what’s most current on my mind or heart, but I always want to improve.

    I can look at the analytics of the posts I write, but honestly they don’t tell me much, as there doesn’t seem to be a pattern to any certain theme of posts I write and page views.

    So, I need your help. Could you answer a few questions for me?

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    February 21, 2011
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    One Principle of Attaining Success in Life

    By Encouragement, Leadership, Life Plan, Vision

    Here’s a principle I’ve learned the hard way:

    Sometimes the most successful are not the ones who do it perfectly but the ones who do it…

    Whatever “it” is…

    Many times we wait until the perfect timing, until all our questions are answered, or until the perfect set of circumstances are aligned before we move forward. In the meantime the world keeps moving and those who move, even though conditions are less than ideal, realize the victories others miss.

    What dream, vision, call of God do you need to move forward on today?

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    February 21, 2011
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    Experiencing God’s Unconditional Love

    By Devotional, Encouragement, Family, God

    Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 NIV

    Do you know why you can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence?

    Unconditional Love! God loves you unconditionally!

    Have you ever experienced the awesome feeling of knowing you are loved unconditionally?

    I have come to realize how many people struggle with understanding the concept of unconditional love.

    I feel so blessed to

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    February 20, 2011
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    Why Do Christians Still Sin?

    By Christians, Encouragement, God, Jesus

    Last Sunday, in our LIES series, I addressed the lie that Christians stop sinning when we become followers of Christ. It’s also why we have been called hypocrites by some. Every believer knows, however, that they still battle sin, but it’s often confusing as to why. I addressed this issue in this message:

    Did you watch the message? Have you ever thought of Christians as hypocritical?

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    February 20, 2011
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    What Do You Do to Relax?

    By Culture, Encouragement, Family, Marriage

    I’m away for a few days relaxing with Cheryl and another couple. We are at a beach, eating well, and doing basically nothing. I will spend some time reading, running, and writing…because that’s relaxing to me.

    I thought I’d use this as an opportunity to ask the question:

    What do you do to relax?

    What’s a normal relaxation experience like…the kind you do often (hopefully)? What is a dream relaxation experience (the kind you plan and budget for)?

    Go! Share!

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    February 19, 2011
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    Whiteboard Conference: An Interview with Jason Young

    By Church, Encouragement, Leadership

    I’m excited to introduce you to Jason Young and the Whiteboard Sessions 2011…a church conference for everyone. I’ve been advertising for it on my blog this month and thought you should hear a little more about it. I’ve been to Whiteboard and Jason is the new director of this conference. I’ve spent some time with Jason and I’m convinced he’s going to make this conference a “must attend” event this year.

    Here’s an interview I did with Jason recently about Whiteboard:

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    February 18, 2011
    Love0

    A Theory: Speed of Growth Determines Speed of Decline

    By Church, Church Planting, Culture, Leadership

    Theory: The rate of increase, often determines the rate of decline.

    In my early twenties, I was working in retail and this theory developed in my mind as I watched dozens of items gather immediate interest, grow rapidly in popularity, quickly rack up sales, but then as a fad changed, the item sales just as quickly decline. I called it my “fad theory”. Other items grew slower, but styles changed gradually and so they slowly began to decline in sales.

    Let me give you two classic examples I observed firsthand:

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    February 15, 2011
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    Perfect Love Can Overcome Fear

    By Encouragement, Faith, Family, Fear, Jesus, Marriage

    Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that His love has not been perfected in us. 1 John 4:18 NLT

    Evidently, according to this verse, if we could have perfect love for God, we could get rid of all fear. The challenge comes in having perfect love.

    I’m not sure I understand the concept completely, especially as it relates to a God I cannot see, but the best way I know of is to compare what I don’t understand to something I do understand.

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    February 14, 2011
    Love0
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