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Ron Edmondson Leadership Blog

Packed with practical thoughts on leadership, church, and culture

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    Just Be Glad It’s Not a Pumpkin

    By Christians, Devotional, Encouragement, Funny, God

    I don’t know where this story originated. If you are the author, let me know and I’ll give you proper credit. I heard it years ago and was reminded of it again today. It may seem a bit corny, but lately I’ve been in a corny mood.

    Sometimes we are tempted to question God. I think that’s okay…I even did a whole sermon about that yesterday. I’ll post it later on this blog. In the end, however, we have to realize that God has answers we do not have.

    This cute little story illustrates that principle well:

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    November 15, 2010
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    Great Leaders Don’t Take Opportunities Just Because They Can

    By Business, Church Planting, Innovation, Leadership

    Part of being a good leader is not taking opportunities even though you can. Sometimes letting your staff do something you could do, maybe even would like to do, is a better for the entire team.

    When we launched our church eleven couples took a risk on a dream we felt God was leading us to pursue. We empowered this core team to do things the way they felt best doing them, as long as they were achieving the vision we knew God was calling us to achieve. We encouraged them to explore new ideas, become experts in their field of interest, and then released them to dream and build. It became part of our DNA and we are still allowing people to explore new opportunities.

    For example,

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    November 15, 2010
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    The Speed of Light

    By Christians, Devotional, Encouragement, God

    How great is God–beyond our understanding! The number of His years is past finding out. Job 36:26

    I remember some time ago reading that a scientist believes they have actually sent light faster than the “speed of light”…or …at least what they thought to be the speed of light. I read the article and I have to admit, although I didn’t understand it completely, I was impressed with their research.

    Do you know, however, what the story didn’t tell me?

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    November 14, 2010
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    10 Tweets that Didn’t Make the Cut

    By Culture, Funny

    Contrary to popular opinion I don’t Tweet everything I think about. I’m a random thinker, so there are many times I think of something, but decide, for whatever reason, it’s not Tweet-worthy.

    Don’t believe me? I decided to capture a list of times I decided not to tweet something over a couple days. (That’s another value of Evernote. Read my post about it HERE and never lose an idea…or a Tweet!)

    Here are 10 tweets that didn’t make the cut, followed in parenthesis by an explanation of why I didn’t send it:

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    November 13, 2010
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    7 Funniest Verses in the Bible (Plus One)

    By Christians, Funny, Jesus

    I have often chuckled when I’ve read the following verses. I’m not trying to be irreverent and hope this is not offensive, but sometimes I read the stories in the Bible and I see the humanity of people. I can hear myself making some of these statements. It brings a smile to my face and I can’t help but laugh.

    Here are 7 of the funniest verses I have read in Scripture:

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    November 11, 2010
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    Was I Thinking Of You This Morning?

    By Christians, Church Planting, Encouragement, Faith, Fear, Vision

    I was thinking about you this morning. Maybe not you specifically, but I was thinking of someone like you…that is if you are someone who is sitting on the sidelines afraid to pursue your God-given dreams, watching the world pass you by. Was I thinking of you?

    Maybe it’s because I encounter many people at their point of desperation…when they are tempted to give up…

    It could be because I’m wired to dream big dreams…or because I’ve been sidelined for a time…watching everyone else pursuing their dreams except me…

    But, for whatever the reason, I continually sense the need to encourage people to move forward with their dreams and aspirations.

    Have you thought lately about the legacy you are leaving? Will you leave a legacy of having followed the dreams you had for your life?

    If that’s your desire for a legacy…you may have to:

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    November 6, 2010
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    Friday Discussion: Do Opposites Attract?

    By Culture, Funny, Marriage

    This Friday discussion originates from a discussion we had in my community group meeting this week. Our topic was marriage and in almost every couple, the husband and wife were extremely different in how they approach situations. It wasn’t a strictly male/female discussion. The males and females were split on some of these issues. It was just that two people wired completely different had married one another. I do know from a counseling standpoint that these difference also cause conflict, but is it who we are attracted to…those that will naturally conflict with our personalities?

    So today, share your opinion: Do opposites attract?

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    November 5, 2010
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    The Summit, by Eric Alexander: A Book To Challenge and Inspire

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

    What are you afraid of?

    Do you have a dream you haven’t tackled out of fear?

    Have you allowed your weaknesses, even your disabilities to hold you back from all God would have for you?

    If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you MUST read this book.

    The Summit, by Eric Alexander, retells the story of Eric’s powerful story and his unique life journey of guiding people with disabilities to the most perilous places of the world, including Mount Everest’s first blind ascent. In The Summit: Faith Beyond Everest’s Death Zone you will follow in their historic footsteps, and learn about faith, trust, prayer, depending on God, as well as the perseverance needed during these climbs and in your own life. Be inspired and motivated by Eric’s insight, not simply to survive but to thrive every day in God’s grace.

    You can even read the first two chapters free HERE. Can’t pass that up!

    Be inspired, be challenged, be moved…Read this book!

    (Watch this video for more inspiration!)

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    November 4, 2010
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    Don’t Shy Away from the Word Balance

    By Business, Children, Christians, Culture, Encouragement, Family, Leadership, Life Plan

    Over the years, I’ve heard differing opinions on the use of the word balance. I’ve learned there are many who actually hate the use of the word. For example, some say the life of a Christian is never balanced because God wants all of our lives. I couldn’t agree more. Others say it’s impossible to balance between work and home because one of them deserves our greatest energy (our home), and yet the two extremes will always compete for our best time and energy. I completely agree. In those contexts, I agree balance should not be our goal. We should prioritize our life around the extremes of life, ensuring that those things we value most receive our greatest attention.

    Balance, however, doesn’t always mean things are equal. I prefer to use the term balance to…

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    November 4, 2010
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    Preparing to Recover in the Moment

    By Business, Church, Church Planting, Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Team Leadership

    Yesterday morning I was scheduled to do the welcome at Grace Community Church. After the first song, I was scheduled to come on stage, welcome people to the service, and we would continue worship. It was that simple. Before the second service, I was in a meeting in another part of the building. All of a sudden I thought to look at the time. The service had started and I was late. I jumped up and started running for the auditorium. I arrived just in time to hear one of our worship leaders covering for my absence. I was mortified. Thankfully, Dustin covered for me.

    The incident, however, served a purpose, because I was reminded of an important principle

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    November 1, 2010
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    Public Recognition Makes a Difference

    By Church, Church Planting, Encouragement

    We have an all staff retreat yesterday (Friday) and today (Saturday). A couple times a year we get away to dream, plan, evaluate, critique, and stretch ourselves. A great part of that is the relationship-building that takes place as we are in the same place for hours at a time. Friday night our spouses joined us for a meal and fellowship and Saturday morning we have a session with staff and spouses. It helps us get buy-in from the families of Grace staff.

    One of the take-away challenges for us today was to encourage another staff member. We drew names of everyone in the room and were asked to email that name with an encouragement, including everyone else to see the email. I picked the name Katrina Watts. Katrina leads our preschool ministry. Here is the email I sent Katrina:

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    October 30, 2010
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    Friday Discussion: The Christian’s Role in Politics

    By Change, Christians, Culture

    Thanks for being a part of Friday discussion. You can now check out the past Friday discussions in a newly created category HERE. Continue to add your thoughts on those subjects.

    For today, let’s discuss politics. You aren’t afraid of that, are you?

    So let me jump in quick: I grew up in a church environment where to be a “good Christian” you had to belong to the “right” party. It was an easy decision who to vote for, because most everyone around me, or at least the vocal crowd, were Republicans. And, you weren’t just any Republican, you were a very conservative, James Dobson Republican. I’m not trying to be offensive, but that was the environment in which I lived.

    In my church today, and among many of the younger generation with whom I minister, that seems to have changed. They seem far less concerned about parties (much as they are far less concerned about denominations), than they are about causes and issues.

    Do you see a change? Let’s discuss politics today. Consider these specific questions.

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    October 29, 2010
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