by Clarence E. Stowers | Nov 13, 2008 | Current Affairs, Empowerment, Leadership, Vision
I’d like to share with you “10 Reasons Why You're Probably Going to Fail” from a blog I ran across by Tony Morgan.
- It’s not your passion. If it doesn’t make your
heart beat fast or cause your mind to race when you’re trying to sleep,
you’re probably doing the wrong thing.
- You don’t have a plan. You need a vision, and you
need to identify specific steps to make that vision become reality.
That includes a financial plan. (I happen to believe you need direction
from God on this.)
- You’re waiting for it to be perfect. Test-drive
it. Beta-test that new idea. You’ll fall into the trap of inaction if
you think it has to be absolutely right from day one.
- You’re not willing to work hard. Everything worth pursuing in my life has involved discipline and perseverance.
- It’ll outgrow you. Keep learning. Keep growing. But more importantly, build a team of people including leaders that can be who you’re not.
- You’ve had success in the past. I’ve watched
organizations hang on to a good idea for too long. Time passes.
Momentum fades. It’s risky to let go of the past and jump on the next
wave.
- You’re unwilling to stop doing something else.
Complexity is easy. Simplicity takes discipline. You can’t build a
healthy marriage if you’re unwilling to give up dating other women.
Who/what do you need to stop dating?
- You won’t build a team of friends. Anyone can hire
from a resume. You need to find people you want to share life with. In
the long run, great relationships will get you out of bed in the
morning.
- You won’t have the tough conversations. When
breakdown happens (and it always does), someone needs to put on their
big-boy pants and initiate the difficult conversation that leads to
relational healing.
- You’re afraid of failure. When fear consumes you,
it will cause you to do stupid things. You’ll let negativity distract
you. You’ll embrace the known, and grow comfortable with mediocrity.
The more often you fail, though, the more often you’ll find success
Now why am I sharing this with you? Well, these things just hit me hard and I wanted to share them with you. What do yall think – care to add to the list?
by Clarence E. Stowers | Nov 7, 2008 | Current Affairs, Leadership, Politics, President-Elect Obama
Mr. President-Elect Obama,
Now that the election is over, I thought it would be a good exercise for me to write out
which issues are most important to me. So, more for my sake than yours,
here they are…(no particular order)
Education: A parent
should be able to choose where they send their child, and if a school
is failing, be able to move their child (with the federal funding
dollars) to another school. Teachers should be rewarded for outcomes
and effectiveness, not tenure.
Protecting the Helpless: There are people who can't help themselves. The elderly; disabled
veterans; the unborn; children in poverty; those with special needs. Please support the many grass-roots
organizations who exist to help the helpless.
Energy:
For more than 20 years we've been hearing politicians tell us what we
can't do because it will take too long. Well, if they'd started 20
years ago, we wouldn't be in this predicament. It is important to me
that the government keeps this front and center, and that all forms of
energy are explored. God expects us to care for this planet, but He
also gave it to us to have dominion over…to live off the land. So if
there are natural resources available from God, and he has given us the
brains to figure out how to harvest those resources–we should do it!
Spending – I'm tired of an
out-of-control spending congress. President Bush never saw a spending
bill he didn't like, and the congress for years has spent more money
than they have without care for the future. The American people follow
their lead and spend more than they make.
President-Elect Obama:
It's going to take a President who is willing
to be very unpopular for awhile to turn this around.
I'm
sure I left one of your hot-button issues off this list. But, this list
comprises what will be on my mind for the next four years.
Best regards,
Pastor CE Stowers, Jr.
by Clarence E. Stowers | Oct 16, 2008 | Family, Leadership, Money and Finance
Well. Congress voted to bailout the economy. So here are my thoughts. I think you can find biblical basis for most of them.
- This was a much for ML King street as for wall street. the vast majority of Americans caused this mess, not just wall street.
- It's time we once again learned to live within our means.
- It's time for some CEOS and Bank Presidents to go to jail for telling people they can afford a $300,000 house when all they can afford is a $150,000 house.
- It's time to tithe to our church and to our retirement account (or start one if you don't have one).
- It's time to make contributions to our retirement account because the market will go up again some day.
- But in the end its time for the American consumer to wake up to
the fact that you buy things only if you have the money. This seems
like such a simple suggestion but it is the heart of all this mess.
Another word for it is greed on both sides of the street, both Wall
Street and Main Street. Now its time for all of us to get back to what
we do best- be Americans and that means pulling together.
by Clarence E. Stowers | Oct 2, 2008 | Christian, Christianity, Church Issues, Empowerment, Leadership
THROUGH IT ALL…LEADERSHIP IS REWARDING!
As I shared over the past few weeks, at Mars Hill, we have been trying to get our minds and hearts around some of the data that points to unmet expectations. What do you do when not as many people are inviting their friends…not as many are growing in Christ…not as many are tithing…not as many are reading their Bible…not as many are attending…and not as many are being baptized?
These questions are very real for us right now, and over the next few days I will share some of the stages of unmet expectations I have recently experienced…
WHEN WE EXPERIENCE UNMET EXPECTATIONS, WE REASSESS, REGROUP, & START LEADING AGAIN
At some point, we MUST decide to lead. We stop blaming, questioning, justifying or redefining–and we hunker down and lead through the crisis. We figure out what is wrong and we get on our faces before God, and we begin to fix it. We face the really tough data and talk about the facts of our situation which might be embarrasing or self-condemning. We acknowledge where we are wrong and we get risky and determine to try some stuff to get back on track. We stick our necks out and cancel some stuff that has perceived success, and add some stuff that has no historical track record. We work through the feeling of failure, the muddy conversations and awkward staff meetings. We don't jump ship because the waters are suddenly rocky. No, instead we rally the troops, and we do what leaders do in times of crisis…we lead.
Anyone else identify with any of these stages of unmet expectations?
