When not changing is more painful than changing

Blurbs No Responses »
Sep 132008

So this applies to many things but today it hit me with my RSS reader.  A what reader some of you are saying?  rss.pngWell it is software that you can subscribe to blogs, news sites and other things with and easily read everything without browsing to each individual website.

Well I have been using Yahoo! mail for years.  Since 1997 probably.  And while it has not always been great, it yahoomail.jpgwas what I was used to and it just worked.  It had multiple email address access way before Gmail.  Anyway, in the last year or so they added an integrated RSS reader into the mail client.  I was geeked about it.  That is until I started using it.

The Yahoo! RSS reader totally sucks.  Really.  Don’t use it.  I switched to the Google reader a few minutes ago and I was up and running in no time flat.  Try doing that with the Yahoo! reader.  Good luck.

google_reader_logo.pngI wish the Google reader was integrated but oh well, I think the fact that it is easy and that the feeds will actually update will win me over.  We’ll see. All I know is the pain of continuing to use the Yahoo! reader was too much.

Hit the comments and tell me what you need to change that is causing you a lot of pain. I bet there are some good stories out there.

Posted by Matt Lane at 4:25 pm Tagged with: , ,

He has done all things well

Bible Reading No Responses »
Sep 102008

I was digging in to Mark chapter 7 the other day and I was in the last chunk.  Verses 31-40 to be specific.  Here it is:

Mark 7:31-37 Listen

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus [1] charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (ESV)

Footnotes

[1] 7:36 Greek he

The fact that that Jesus stuck his fingers in the guys ears, spit and touched the guys tongue, is funny.  He may have even spit on the guys tongue.  Now that’s just not right.  Do lots of things like Jesus but don’t spit on people’s tongues.  Not only will you not heal them, you might end up needing healing.

Anyway, verse 37 has really stuck with me.  “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”  The people were incredulous that he could even heal deaf and mute people.  But more than that, he did all things well.  Those three words have been ringing in my ears since I studied them.  Ringing loudly.

Before Jesus came to this earth, how many leaders (religious or otherwise) had failed the people in some way?  How many had abused their power by stomping on people for their own gain?  How many had had personal failures that will always be remembered?  How many Old Testament heroes were great except for this one thing or that they were incredible but didn’t finish strong?

Obviously everyone fails to measure up to Jesus.  Nobody compares or even gets close.  But my thought is, how many times have I thought that I really do get things or that I do things well and in actuality, I fail my Lord all the time?  How many times do I puff myself up for my gain instead of making HIS name famous?  How many times do we as leaders fail our people?  It is a humbling and sobering thought.  Not an immobilizing thought though.  Quite the contrary.  Not a get stuck in the quicksand and can’t move thought but a humbling one that makes me want more of Jesus and less of me.  That thought motivates me to confess, submit and apply all that much more.

How about you?

Posted by Matt Lane at 12:37 pm

Son Spots Dad on TV, 5 Years After Family ‘Cremated’ Him

News of the Weird 2 Responses »
Sep 042008

I can’t even imagine this…totally incredible.

From Foxnews.com….

Five years after a British man and his family cremated and held a wake for his dad, John Renehan spotted his father on television, alive.davidharrison1.jpg

Renehan’s father, John Delaney, disappeared in 2000, the Daily Mail reported. When police found a decomposed body in April 2003, wearing similar clothes and with similar wounds to Delaney, they declared it was him.

A coroner confirmed the police findings and Renehan paid for a cremation and wake, the Mail reported. He is now demanding an apology from police for the trauma he suffered believing his dad was dead.

Turns out 71-year-old Delaney had been in a care facility since 2000, after suffering a head injury and memory loss, the Mail reported. Unable to give any clues as to his identity, Delaney was given the name David Harrison and placed in a home.

In April Delaney was featured on a TV show about missing persons.

By coincidence, Renehan was watching and recognized his dad. DNA tests confirmed the link and the pair had an emotional reunion two weeks ago, the Mail reported.

Posted by Matt Lane at 7:36 pm

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

Blurbs No Responses »
Sep 032008

How many times have I failed to plan?  Gah…this is classic that has kicked me in recent days:

“If you fail to plan, you can plan to fail,” says I.

“We don’t have time to plan, we have to get started,” says he.

“Started on what?” says I.

“Started on the work,” says he.

“Which work?” says I.

“There’s a whole bunch of stuff we know we have to do,” says he.

“But with your lean and mean organization, you have more work than resources. Which stuff should they work on today?” says I.

“That’s OK. It all has to get done. Start whatever we can,” says he.

“But isn’t there some stuff that can’t be finished without other stuff,” says I.

“That’s OK, it can still get started. If not, people will be sitting idle. Can’t have that,” says he.

“But it’ll sit half-done, waiting for inputs that may not match what was done, probably leading to rework,” says I.

“That’s OK. We know how to be flexible. We have to be in this business,” says he.

“But rework will add time and effort,” says I.

“That’s OK. There’s always overtime if we need it,” says he.

“But even with OT, with all the false starts, un-clear goals, and people jumping willy-nilly from task to task, don’t you risk being late against your promises?” says I.

“That’s OK. We’re used to being late. That’s why we always have a fallback plan to deliver less that the full original promise,” says he.

“Plan?” says I. “Doh . . .” says I, Homeresquely, with the heel of my hand thumping my forehead..

Think about it . . .

Isn’t managing an organization to accomplish a strategy in support of a goal something worth planning? What’s your plan? What’s your strategy? What’s your goal?

©2002, Frank Patrick

Posted by Matt Lane at 8:44 am Tagged with: , , ,
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