Though I am thoroughly and proudly Canadian, there is a challenging article "The State of the Union and the State of the Pulpit" at the Ordinary Pastor blog.
Read the full text of the January 23, 2012 State of the Union address.
Though I do not consider myself even a novice on American politics, at this point I feel President Barack Obama is a lock to win re-election. Even though I disagree with many of the Democrat perspectives on issues, Obama is doing what he said he would do, and he has the charisma to sell it and the gumption to do it! Meanwhile, the Republicans are trying to decide whether they will select a candidate, Mitt Romney, who is a multi-millionaire and had to be "forced" to make his income public or Newt Gingrich, one who has a 40-year history in the kind of politics Obama keeps pointing out as ineffective for regular Americans (and he's right!). As well, Newt has made a pretty regular habit of mis-speaking in catastrophic, politically incorrect and insensitive ways!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
With great privilege, comes great micro-managing.
As always, a wonderful episode of House, MD titled "Better Half" (season 8, episode 9). The highlight was the great quote early in the show spoken by Dr. House (Hugh Laurie) to Dr. Foreman (Omar Epps): "With great privilege, comes great micro-managing." While it made for a great laugh, it is also an incredibly sad, but perhaps too often true description of some leaders.
I realize I personally am prone to this leadership sin. There are some tasks I don't mind delegating, but key areas I want to have pretty tight control over... and thus I can see myself micro-managing people so that they are annoyed and quickly lose any desire to pour their energy into a project, never mind make it a success. There are times when another person has been delegated the task and it does not go as well as it expected, and I'm the one responsible... further supporting my false thinking that "I need to control every detail." However, when I allow others to accomplish a task in a different way, frequently I find much more buy-in and participation from others than I could have marshalled. I can think of times where I've observed individuals in a position of authority "being attentive to the details" - code words for "micromanaging." In the process, an employee quickly loses enthusiasm, energy, and creativity. Likewise, there are many times an employee has been given a task, a budget and the exhortation "go for it" within these boundaries and it is amazing to see what has been accomplished.
I realize I personally am prone to this leadership sin. There are some tasks I don't mind delegating, but key areas I want to have pretty tight control over... and thus I can see myself micro-managing people so that they are annoyed and quickly lose any desire to pour their energy into a project, never mind make it a success. There are times when another person has been delegated the task and it does not go as well as it expected, and I'm the one responsible... further supporting my false thinking that "I need to control every detail." However, when I allow others to accomplish a task in a different way, frequently I find much more buy-in and participation from others than I could have marshalled. I can think of times where I've observed individuals in a position of authority "being attentive to the details" - code words for "micromanaging." In the process, an employee quickly loses enthusiasm, energy, and creativity. Likewise, there are many times an employee has been given a task, a budget and the exhortation "go for it" within these boundaries and it is amazing to see what has been accomplished.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Book Review: Becoming the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved
Book Review: Becoming the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved (WinePress Publishing, 2011).
I have put off writing this review because it is a difficult review to write (the opposite of a wise leadership principle). It is challenging to write the review because while the book's development is interesting, I never found myself certain which "emphasis" I was supposed to be attending to: the emphasis on how John became the disciple Jesus loved or how "God is writing His story, and you are the main character" (page xi). Clearly, these two emphases were to be woven together to mesh, but as a reader, I did not find them easily connecting together and thus found this constant struggle. Making this review even more challenging is that the author, Michelle Lazurek is a former student from Prairie Bible College who I count as a friend and appreciate. Nonetheless, while Michelle's great heart and passion to serve Christ clearly come through, the book lacks in two significant areas: focus and editing.
Focus. Again, while the emphasis on God is at work writing His story through your life was evident, the parallels to how God worked in John's life were weak and difficult to follow. The three intentions of the book, clearly delineated at the outset (pp. 19-20) are evident, though not consistently developed or accomplished, in my estimation. There are hints of all three at different points, but they are sporadic, and seldom well-connected.
Editing. I was concerned when I learned that Michelle had self-published with WinePress and regretfully, I can see why she chose this option. A good editor would have required a fair bit of work for this to go to press. Along with the focus issue, there are frequent references to "John is rumored to" or "we assume that," that could be stated directly with either an endnote/footnote to support the claim or explain a debated issue of Johannine chronology or theology. While a theological research paper would not be expected when each instance was referred in John's life is referred to, there were too many times the reader felt like s/he was listening in on a sports trade rumor or a juicy piece of gossip being passed around the water cooler (or prayer meeting).
On the positive side, the book does highlight the truth that God is writing His story, and each person can have a significant part to play. As Michelle unpacks the metaphor into three sections "an invitation to the story," "writing your manuscript" and "publishing your manuscript," there are great personal stories as well as thoughtful and meaningful life challenges for any reader.
Finally, this book may connect more with female readers than with the men (of which I am one!).
I have put off writing this review because it is a difficult review to write (the opposite of a wise leadership principle). It is challenging to write the review because while the book's development is interesting, I never found myself certain which "emphasis" I was supposed to be attending to: the emphasis on how John became the disciple Jesus loved or how "God is writing His story, and you are the main character" (page xi). Clearly, these two emphases were to be woven together to mesh, but as a reader, I did not find them easily connecting together and thus found this constant struggle. Making this review even more challenging is that the author, Michelle Lazurek is a former student from Prairie Bible College who I count as a friend and appreciate. Nonetheless, while Michelle's great heart and passion to serve Christ clearly come through, the book lacks in two significant areas: focus and editing.
Focus. Again, while the emphasis on God is at work writing His story through your life was evident, the parallels to how God worked in John's life were weak and difficult to follow. The three intentions of the book, clearly delineated at the outset (pp. 19-20) are evident, though not consistently developed or accomplished, in my estimation. There are hints of all three at different points, but they are sporadic, and seldom well-connected.
Editing. I was concerned when I learned that Michelle had self-published with WinePress and regretfully, I can see why she chose this option. A good editor would have required a fair bit of work for this to go to press. Along with the focus issue, there are frequent references to "John is rumored to" or "we assume that," that could be stated directly with either an endnote/footnote to support the claim or explain a debated issue of Johannine chronology or theology. While a theological research paper would not be expected when each instance was referred in John's life is referred to, there were too many times the reader felt like s/he was listening in on a sports trade rumor or a juicy piece of gossip being passed around the water cooler (or prayer meeting).
On the positive side, the book does highlight the truth that God is writing His story, and each person can have a significant part to play. As Michelle unpacks the metaphor into three sections "an invitation to the story," "writing your manuscript" and "publishing your manuscript," there are great personal stories as well as thoughtful and meaningful life challenges for any reader.
Finally, this book may connect more with female readers than with the men (of which I am one!).
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