Ron Edmondson - Graced Again

How To Recover from Failure

Ron — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:42:52 +0000

In my personal ministry, sadly, I experience people more at their moments of failure than in their moments of success. As an optimist, I plan for success. I believe God desires success for His people. As a realist, I see failure all around me. I believe God allows failure and uses it to draw us closer to Him and to teach us valuable insights into our characters and into the character of God Himself. Failure has been a part of my life (a big part) and it is prevalent in the lives of the most of the successful people I know. Therefore, we must learn how to recover from failure.

Here are a few things to remember after and during your moments of failure.

· Take time to rest after your failure, but do not sit still for long. Idleness often leads to temptations and worry. (I almost used another cliché’ involving idleness and the devil, but decided not to.) Do something, even if it is volunteer work.

· Know that not everyone is talking about you, even if it may feel that everyone is.

· If people are talking about you, it will not last long until the new “failure of the month” comes along.

· Take some time to re-evaluate what led to your failure. Accept fault where appropriate and do not be too proud to say you made a mistake.

· Learn from your mistakes and build safeguards in your life to keep from repeating the same ones.

· Keep your mind and body healthy. Read, exercise, pray, and think. It is important to stay fresh for your next opportunity.

· Begin to dream new dreams and set new goals. (These goals can be the same goals you had before you failed if you are willing to take a risk on them again.)

· Make a decision in your heart to rise from your failure. Prove to those who thought you could not (or at least you thought that is what they were saying) that you can succeed. More than that prove it to you!

· Allow failure to make you stronger and better.

Having and Keeping a Vision For Your Life

Ron — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:49:48 +0000

Yesterday’s message at Grace Community Church was about having and keeping a vision for your life. The summary points were:

Dream Big

Set some short-term, Realistic Goals

Make a plan to achieve your goals…

Come up with action steps to help you meet those goals.

Begin to form healthy habits

Habits form through consistency

Reward Yourself.

Celebrate the victory of achieving your vision.

For the complete message, go to the podcast at http://gcc.libsyn.com and listen to the January 4^,2009 message. (It should be posted soon.)

Here’s hoping and praying 2009 is your best year ever!

Guest Post: Nate Edmondson

Ron — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 11:55:26 +0000

Read the thoughts of 17 year old Nate Edmondson.

http://nateedmondson.blogspot.com/2009/01/world-spins-madly-on.html

Is the world passing you by, or are you making a difference?

What Will You Do With Jesus?

Ron — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 11:26:13 +0000

This post originated from the radio program I’ve been doing for 15 years or more. It’s a Christian talk show and I have one of my closest friends as my co-host. He was out of town one morning for Christmas break and I had to do the show alone. As I was preparing that morning I read Mark 5. The story of the woman subject to bleeding has stuck with me for several weeks now.

To save you time looking up the story, I have pasted it here:

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Mark 5:24-34 NIV

The story prompted a thought that I shared that morning on the radio. What am I going to do with Jesus in the New Year? Here’s what came to me from this story.

1. Seek Jesus more passionately.

Once this woman heard of Jesus she began to track Him. She was a “Jesus groupie” of sorts. She knew Jesus was her only hope. That’s the way I want to pursue Him in the New Year.

2. Cling to Jesus more tightly.

It did not matter to the woman that she was not supposed to be in the crowd. Her physical condition should have kept her away, but she was willing to risk everything to “touch His garment”. I want that kind of commitment to Christ in the New Year.

3. Claim Jesus more readily.

When Jesus turned to look for the person who had touched him, the woman came forward. She could have left. She got what she wanted, but she was willing to declare her faith publicly. In 2009, I don’t want to miss opportunities to tell others about the faith I have in Jesus Christ!

4. Experience Jesus more expectedly.

The woman was healed! Her faith was rewarded. She went from being an embarrassment to the crowd to the star of the day. Honoring Christ comes with great reward. He blesses those who place their complete faith in Him. This year, I want to see Christ bigger than ever before. I expect to see Him magnified greatly, as I place my total trust and faith in Him and watch expectantly for His appearance in my life!

What are you going to do with Jesus in the New Year?

10 Ways To Create Time Margin

Ron — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:13:33 +0000

Yesterday I posted a titled “I Want More in 2009”. It prompted a good comment question from Freddy T. Wyatt, my church planting friend in NYC. His basic question: How do you fit more into an already busy schedule? I agree. Great question. If we are going to “do more” in 2009 we have to find a place to put it. Here are a few tips to help create more margin of time in your life. As I told Freddy T, this post is more theory-based. Each of these represents areas I need to improve upon in my life.

1. Put God first.

It’s amazing in my week and day if I start the day talking to God about my day. If I ask God for margin in my time and to help me complete my “to do” list, He actually seems to listen and help me. (Try it!)

2. Prioritize your life.

It is important to have a life purpose. What do you value most? Without knowing this we find ourselves chasing after many things that have little value.

3. Make sure your priorities line up with your desires.

That sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it is not. Many times, we say our purpose is one thing, but what we actually do is something entirely different. That is often because people are going to do what people want to do. We may need to ask God to change our heart and plant in us His desires.

4. Stop unnecessary time-wasters.

If you “veg” out every night on 3+ hours of television or surfing the net, don’t be surprised that you didn’t get a blog post written or spend quality time with your children. Most of us form bad habits or have unorganized methods of doing something that waste bulks of our time. Make a list of what you spend the most time doing and see if there are places you can cut. (I suspect there will be.)

5. Work smarter.

I can’t imagine being successful and leading a team without some system of calendaring your week or keeping a planner, yet I know so many pastors and other ministers who simply handle things as they come up rather than work with a plan. The benefit of organization is that you can do what you need to do more efficiently and faster and be more productive.

6. Schedule times to organize.

This is so important, but most people don’t do it. Spending an hour or two actually planning the week will make the whole week more productive. Usually for me this is the first part of my week. If I know where I’m headed and my work space is organized for efficiency, it’s much easier to get everything done and still handle distractions, which are sure to come.

7. Do the most necessary things first.

You may have tried the A/B/C list of scheduling priorities. It doesn’t matter what system you use, but the important thing is that you have one and use it to help your rate of completion.

8. Don’t say yes to everything.

Be picky with your time allotment based again on your end priorities and goals.

9. Schedule down time.

Especially when my boys were younger, I would write on my calendar time for them. That may sound mechanical, but it allows you to be there and keeps things and others from filling up your schedule. (I still schedule this time for Cheryl.)

10. Evaluate your schedule often.

Plans should not be implemented and then ignored. Develop your plan to create margin in your life, then periodically review the plan to see how you are doing and what needs to be changed.

For some people just reading this is laborsome. I especially encourage those of you geared this way to push through the difficult part of this and give it a try. You will be surprised what a positive difference it will have on your life.

Freddy T. also asked what I think is people’s greatest time-wasters. I don’t know, but I am curious. What do you think you waste the most time doing unnecessarily?

I Want MORE in 2009

Ron — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:39:28 +0000

I am not a selfish person usually, although I guess we all are to a certain extent. Still, there are some things I want more of in my life in the year 2009. All of these stem from what I really want to accomplish in life. I have thought a lot recently, while preparing for the first message of the New Year at Grace, about what matters most in my life. Here’s my list of “more”. (Feel free to share what you want more of in the New Year.)

1. I want to discipline myself more. The year 2009 is going to be a year of structure for me. I’m fairly disciplined now, but I’ve learned that discipline allows me to accomplish my goals.

2. I want to love more. I want that to start with Cheryl and the boys, but I always want to develop more patience for others. (This may improve my driving temperament.)

3. I want to sing more. Singing, regardless of the song, usually lifts my spirits and is good for the soul.

4. I want to dream more. Dreaming keeps my mind and imagination fresh.

5. I want to pray more. Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not seeking prayer requests, although I hope to pray for others more too, I just want more time alone with my Father.

6. I want to rest more. I need to get to bed earlier and actually consider taking a day off occasionally.

7. I want to read more. Last year, because of other commitments, I didn’t read books other than the Bible as much as I usually do. I have some catching up to do.

8. I want to exercise more. I may not run a marathon or do all the long distance runs I did in 2008, but I want to concentrate on a more complete fitness program. The healthier I am the more productive I can be.

9. I want to network more. I developed some incredible connections and relationships in 2008. I want to be intentional and smarter with these opportunities in 2009.

10. I want to more balance in my life. I am always doing something. That’s how I thrive. I want to consider where my attention goes and where my priorities are more in the New Year and put more of my energy in those places.

What do you want more of in 2009? Go ahead. If you have good goals, and your heart is intending to honor God, be selfish!

A Happy Birthday Tribute to my Wife

Ron — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:34:59 +0000

It may be Happy New Year to you, but to me it is Happy Birthday Cheryl.

Today is my precious wife Cheryl’s ____th birthday. (I’m smarter than to fill in that blank.)

Let me tell you a little about Cheryl. Cheryl’s greatest desire in life is to give and receive love. She loves doing for other people; giving everything, she has for the benefit of others. At the same time, there is no way I or the boys could ever fill her love quotient, so thankfully, she pours her life into God and others and as a result, others love her greatly.

Cheryl became a Christian as an adult, but because of her intelligence, she quickly grew in her Biblical knowledge. In spite, however, of her usual ability to out-think me, she never second-guesses my decisions and never criticizes me in public. She never says an unkind word about me to others. (Her friends have often told me that.) I always know she is my greatest supporter. Yet Cheryl is not afraid to challenge me and hold me accountable to being a better person. She fits the role of a Biblical wife better than any woman I know and she makes the perfect pastor’s wife. I could never do what I do without her encouragement. Her faith is rock-solid; far greater than mine is at times. We have taken some huge leaps of faith together as a couple and they would have never happened without her willingness and strength. (Thank you, Cheryl, for always allowing me to pursue my dreams.)

Cheryl is a child of God first and a wife and mother second, but I could never imagine anyone having a stronger instinct and desire to be a wife and mother than she has. The best times of her life are when we are doing something together. It doesn’t matter what, as long as she is with me. (I honestly don’t understand that completely, because I am often sarcastic and impatient but I’m glad she feels that way and I want to work to keep that desire in her heart.) The boys and I depend on Cheryl greatly. She keeps our house and lives running efficiently. Cheryl has been a great mom to our boys, allowing the three of us to behave like boys, even in the house, even when she gets nervous that we are “playing a little rough”. That has helped produce a home where our boys (and I) love to be.

Today, on her ____th birthday, I want to honor Cheryl for being my wife. She is my best friend, my lover, and my helpmate. I would not want to face life without her. God knew what He was doing (as He always does) when He led me to Cheryl. I am glad I listened to Him!

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! I love you!

PS. Keep dreaming baby. The best is yet to come!

What Language Are You Speaking?

Ron — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:57:01 +0000

Some people speak a language they share with the group of people who have a similar lifestyle, occupation or interest. They use code words, anacronyms and phrases that only those within the group understand. Living in a military town, for example, I often hear a phrase like “he’s with the 82^nd Airborne Division”, which to us civilians means???? Being married to an accountant wife means that having a tax conversation with her involves me knowing certain form numbers such as “W4 and W2”. We tend to indoctrinate ourselves with the language and culture of the people we hang around, work with, and from whom we learn.

Here is a short, random list of examples of people who speak a separate language. Feel free to add your own.

Accountants

Military

Physicians

Teachers

Christians

Pastors

Sports fans

Musicians

Techies

Cooks

Here is the reason this issue matters to us. It is perfectly okay and perhaps even necessary to have the language within a defined group of people. It expedites the process and builds commonality and loyalty, but if we are not careful, we will alienate people outside our “group” who do not understand our language. If we want to help people understand who Christ is and what He means to us, then we have to realize that not everyone understands what it means to be “growing in the Lord”.

What phrases can you think of that Christians (or other groups) use that would be hard to understand outside the “group”?

How Do You Define “Team Player”?

Ron — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:52:48 +0000

What is your definition of a team player? Over the years, I have discovered that not everyone defines “team player” the same. There appears to be two almost bipolar understandings of the term. This difference existed when I was in the business world and it continues now that I am in professional ministry work.

Let me describe the difference:

I have a friend who serves on a church staff. His pastor describes a team player as someone who follows the rules and never questions authority. To this pastor, it is a sign of respect if his followers obey him. They are truly part of the “team” when they comply with the direction he has set for it. The church rewards team players who do not disrupt the set flow of the organizational structure the pastor has established for the church. The church punishes those who fail to play as a part of the “team”. The pastor expects each team member to lead his or her ministry separate from the other players on the team in hopes that the combination of individual efforts will help the entire church reach the goals set by the pastor.

I define the term “team player” quite differently. I, too, am a pastor and I lead a team. I expect that each person on the team is to play a part in helping the church set goals and seeing those goals become reality. I personally am offended when someone on the team refuses to bring his or her own original ideas for the entire church to the table for discussion or feels his or her input is not welcome. If one member on the team’s ministry struggles, it affects the entire team and it becomes the entire team’s responsibility to help them. I, too, believe that each team has a leader, who must make final decisions and set ultimate vision for the organization, but I welcome challenge to my authority if done with the intent of helping the church succeed. Those rewarded most with this definition are those who work hardest to help the entire church, as well as their personal area of responsibility, achieve its goals.

Which of these real-life scenarios best fit your definition of “team player”?