Issue No. 237 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting features a book/DVD and powerful website about the poor, the homeless and the addicted—and what Jesus might have to say about the poor if he showed up physically in your Sunday service and at your church’s Monday night board meeting! Why this book now—just before Christmas? Read on. And this reminder: check out my Management Buckets website with dozens of resources and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings.
Race to the Bottom
Wow. Let me say that again. Wow.
I’ve waited until a few weeks before Christmas to tell you about an extraordinary book, DVD and website. If you read this review, you might be tempted to think “guilt trip.” But it’s far from that. It’s a journey I’m guessing you’ve been longing to take. Maybe you just didn’t know how.
Author John Ashmen has delivered a road map for Christ followers who know all the Bible verses about the poor—but don’t know the poor. “If you don’t see them, you’re not looking,” says Ashmen in his 100-page gift. Serving in soup lines during the holidays is OK, he says, but he has more ideas for you.
Ashmen is the president of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions but—amazingly—he doesn’t reveal his vocational passion until page 94. That’s stunning. Lesser leaders would trumpet the organization and be Chief Huckster for the Brand in the first chapter. Ashmen’s integrity and intellect focuses the microscope, instead, on the person in need.
He writes, “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. noted that in the story of the Good Samaritan, the first question the priest and Levite each asked was, ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But then the Good Samaritan came by, and he reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’”
Ashmen tackles the problem—and the opportunity—of the poor, the homeless and the addicted with a crisp writing style (almost lyrical at times). He delivers a book that is part inspirational, part historical (his sweep of evangelicalism is brilliant), part theological, part sociological, part political, and oozing with creative Christ-centered solutions to poignant problems. If there’s any guilt, it will be self-inflicted. Ashmen doesn’t go there.
And he writes insightfully to all four socials styles (see my People Bucket). Analyticals will love the statistics. He mentions the popular adage, “Torture data long enough and it will confess to anything.” Drivers will appreciate the creative To-Do ideas—dozens of them to fit any level of growing passion; featured at the end of the 18 sections in six chapters. Amiables will be warmed by the stories—real people, real lives in peril. And Expressives will love the forward-thinking opportunities (how will the church respond?) and the remarkable DVD and the book’s website brimming with phenomenal stuff (video, music and more).
God’s value system, asserts Ashmen, “turns everything on its head. Fully following God’s value system is a race to the bottom, to lift up those who are there.”
Full disclosure: Ashmen is a good friend and the book/DVD/website and small group materials package have been creatively produced by CrossSection (led by Doug Martinez and my son, Jason Pearson). So I can say this with confidence—trust me on this one: it’s a very important book for you, your small group, your pastor, your church and your family. And if you’re a ministry leader—seeking innovative ways to tell your story, you’ll quickly discover that when you minister to the reader/listener with authentic resources, you’ll capture hearts.
To order your copy or request a free preview kit for your church or organization, click on the title: Invisible Neighbors: If You Don’t See Them, You’re Not Looking, by John Ashmen
Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
1) Jesus said, “The poor will always be with us.” But…what do you think he really meant by that?
2) If you read Same Kind of Different As Me or Under the Overpass, maybe it touched your heart, but not your head, hands and feet. Invisible Neighbors gives dozens of possible next steps for engaging with the poor, the homeless and the addicted. What might be a next step for you?
Why Most Small Businesses Fail - Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit
One of the big ideas in the Systems Bucket, Chapter 18, in Mastering the Management Buckets is that while most small businesses and organizations have a high failure rate, “franchise” operations have much greater staying power.
The Systems Bucket core competency reads: “We are passionate about systems thinking and process management. We encourage systems people to use their gifts and mentor others for the benefit of our Cause and our Community arenas. We are careful not to tinker or over-tweak, yet we are tenacious about tickler systems. We have a heart to create systems that serve people, not the bureaucracy!”
For the classic book on systems (and franchises), visit the Systems Bucket webpage and order the book, The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It, by Michael E. Gerber.
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