Obstacles welcome or not?

I just finished my latest Thomas Nelson book to review and I don't even know where to start. It is one of the best books of true leadership I've read. Ralph de la Vega has a proven success as President & CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets and speaks from his own learning experience and track record. His book Obstacles Welcome turn adversity to advantage in business and life should be required reading for any and all young person today.

His journey started when at the age of 10 his parents in Cuba put him on a plane by himself and sent him to the United States. He uses this and each subsequent obstacle, as a learning experience and spring board for the next phase of his life.

Using phases, behavior charts, goals, categories, etc as teaching examples, he lays a framework that will enable any of us to achieve our dream.

“Communicating the plan must go beyond the executive level into the ranks of the company.” (Or church).

“To get real buy-in, you have to give people a chance to speak their minds and object the things they don’t like.”

“Some manager think communication is just about the transmitting part. They believe if you have put the message out there, communication is accomplished.”

I believe one of the impressive things I got is that he uses his influence to mentor, encourage and inspire those who are under his leadership. He is a true inspiration to motivate all who read his book to look at the bigger picture, that it is not just about them but those who come after.

IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE

What kind of difference do it make? Indeed, what difference do it make? When you read this book you will reevaluate the way you look at people, the way you think and hopefully the way you judge others. Ron Hall and Denver Moore both have the ability to write and tell stories in such a way that you will question a lot of your perceptions.

Denver having been homeless brings a perspective that we don’t often get. “Lotta times, people look at homeless folks the way they used to look at me: they’d kinda eyeball me up and down, and I could see them wheels turnin in their heads, wonderin, how’d that fella get that way?” See, that aint the question to be askin….Our business is to find out is there anything we can do to bring a change to their life.”

Ron is open about how he viewed the homeless when he first started going to the mission and how his views had changed. He said he began to ask two questions to the people who attended their events: “How many homeless are in this city?” and “How many churches are in this city?” The answer may not be a surprise, but it should be a wake up call, most of the time there are more churches than homeless.

"homelessness will never be solved by government. That's because government can put a roof over a man's head and food in his mouth and even give him a job. But government can neither love a man nor lovingly hold him accountable." I believe that as a church we have surrendered our responsibilities to the government because it’s easier and we have bought into the idea they can do it better.

Ron also wrote about his dad and how he found it easier to refuse to judge “bad sorts”, the strangers than it was those closest to us, our own flesh and blood. He said “to love a man enough to help him, you have to forfeit the warm, self-righteous glow that comes from judging.”

Not having read Same Kind of Different as Me first, I feel like I missed something. I’m now anxious to buy it and catch up on the story.

Book Review FEARLESS by Max Lucado

I think anyone would be hard to find a book of Max Lucado’s that wasn’t good, I’m always blessed by his writings. This book is no different and is very timely with all that’s going on in America today with the economy, the government’s policies of big government etc. But, like most of his books, it will also probably be timeless as there are always issues and circumstances that will cause us to fear.

Some of the chapter titles that give you an idea of where he delves are: God’s Ticked Off at Me, Fear of Disappointing God; There’s a Dragon in My Closet, Fear of Worst-Case Scenarios; the Shadow of Doubt, Fear That God is Not Real. These are very real fears to most of us and he helps us turn our eyes to the one who calms our fears.

“His prayer in the garden becomes, for Christians, a picture of the church in action – a place where fears can be verbalized, pronounced, stripped down, and denounced; an escape from the ‘wordless darkness’ of suppressed fears…. A healthy church is where our fears go to die.”

I especially like the thought: “But how can we be sure he will keep his pledge?...The answer rests in the Jerusalem graveyard. If Jesus’ tomb is empty, then his promise is not.”

Like most of Max’s books, this one I will reread several times. I highly recommend it and believe it will benefit any who read it.

There is a discussion guide in the back for individual or group study to better grasp the ideas and principals and to help to point us to where we can lay our fears down and become FEARLESS.