From the Mind of MandoRon

Just sitting around watching my Cowboys beating up on the Jayhawks. OSU’s 9-point lead is dwindling. KU is ranked #5 after all…
Here’s some cool stuff I came across this week:

• This cute little Korean kid singing Hey Jude is just too cool.
• Carlos over at the Ragamuffin Soul blog gets a tattoo of Paul’s conversion on La Ink.
• This is possibly my favorite commercial ever for two reasons. First, the absurdity of the huge legs on that guy. Second, as you watch it, you wonder what it is that they are advertising. Then you get to the end, and learn that “there’s a perfect job for everyone.” Clever stuff from the people at monster.com.

Craig has some great suggestions here and here on how to have a friendship with your pastor.

My church, GracePoint, is in the middle of the Unleash series which kicks off a 2 year building campaign.  GracePoint, is in the middle of the Unleash series which kicks off a 2 year building campaign.  Bryson and the staff have been talking a lot about generosity… about becoming generous Christ-followers who give freely to others. As Bryson says, “it’s about faith-raising, not building raising.”

The first Sunday kicked off with a reverse offering where everyone in attendance was given an envelope with $5 to $500 in it.  The only requirement was that you give it away to someone as an act of kindness.  As you can tell from the stories, it’s really got the church in a generous mood.  We’re all actively looking for unmet needs. You can also read on Bryson’s blog about some of the crazy stuff that God is doing.

This Sunday, special-guest Blake Aaron Guthrie sang a few songs for us. Blake mentioned to me before the first service that he’d lost his guitar stand nine months ago.  It occurred to me, that he needed the stand that I keep in my trunk more than I need it.  God can do incredible things through Blake with my guitar stand.  So after the service, I told him to keep it.  Without the Unleash campaign going on, I might not have recognized the opportunity to bless someone.

But here’s the really funny thing. Last night I was dreaming about mowing the front yard.  As I was mowing, I noticed how high my elderly neighbor’s yard was.  So, I mowed her yard too!  I’m even having generous dreams!

(Note:  I don’t really have an elderly neighbor; she was only in my dream.)

The biggest problem with having a sardonic sense of humor is that occasionally other people miss the humor in what you say (and sometimes it just isn’t funny…). Then you just come across as bitter and pessimistic.

(By the way, just so I’m not plagiarizing, the source for the definition in the title is Webster’s New World Dictionary, Modern Desk Edition, copyright 1979…)

A couple of months ago, I was driving home from work complaining to God about a couple of things. I’ve complained frequently to him about these same two things for some time now.

This time, I think God got tired of my complaining. He asked me “who I thought I was to complain about what other people do (or don’t do), when I had no skin in the game myself?” He told me “to get out of the boat, and get some skin in the game.”

I didn’t really know what God meant at first, but I remembered that I had purchased a book last Summer by John Ortberg: “If You Want to Walk On Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat“. So I went home and started reading it. The book dissects the story of Peter walking on the water with Jesus. (You can read the story here on YouVersion - Matthew 14:22-33.)

I believe that God is calling me to get out of my comfort zone, and take on some new responsibility.

The first half was easy. I was offered a job promotion into a leadership role at work a few weeks ago. No more complaining about what others aren’t doing; now I’ve got to do it.

The second area of complaint is much harder. I’ve really been wrestling and praying and rationalizing over it. I read in Ortberg’s book yesterday that we have to get over the fear of failure if we want to walk on water. We can’t fear drowning. Fear of failure can paralyze us from reaching our potential, and being what God wants us to be.

I had an epiphany (or is it theophany in this case) that this is the biggest source of resistance for me. I’m afraid that people will discover that I’m not good enough if I fail. I’ve been rationalizing that I’m not talented enough to do something. Last night, I came to terms with the fact that I’m not talented enough. But God can overcome that and use me anyway. I need to stop being afraid of failing. Failure teaches us, it grows us, it mature us, it deepens our faith. Failure should energize, not paralyze.

Is fear of failure holding you back too?