Issue No. 399 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting features an inside-the-camper-van look behind the Iron Curtain—and a two-minute video from Charlie “Tremendous” Jones on why “Nothing Works!” And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and visit Issue No. 397 for my 2018 Book-of-the-Year and my Top-10 books of 2018.
Banking, Beer, Bibles, and Books!
This week in North America, we’re fixated on a wall—while in the UK and Europe the focus is on Brexit. Hey, everyone! Take a deep breath! Just step back for a minute and let the extraordinary wordcrafter, author Bob Kelly, remind you about another wall—The Berlin Wall—and what we called the Iron Curtain and what true freedom looks like today (with or without walls or Brexit).
Protected! by Bob Kelly has a very intriguing subtitle, and—get this—a verse from Psalm 91 on the front cover!
• Subtitle: A True Life Story of God's Word Smuggled Behind the Iron Curtain—and the Influence of a "Tremendous" Man
• Psalm 91:2 – “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”
Have you ever felt unprotected? Fearful? Anxious? Sleepless? Worried? Second-guessing—“why-did-I-say-yes-to-this?”
Bob Kelly’s short book packs a punch (dozens of punches!) as he bobs and weaves the Psalm of Protection through page-turning stories while smuggling Bibles behind the Iron Curtain in the 1970s. You think you’ve had a few zig zags in your career? Read why Bob, the East Coast bank president, signed on with a Bible-smuggling ministry in California—while his car ended up near El Paso, Texas! (Read Chapter 8, “A Hard Decision.” A miracle story!)
Oh…did I mention his short stint selling life insurance? One interviewer’s assessment, “This applicant is confirming definitely a real lack of interview getting and closing capacity.”
But that fortuitous, albeit brief insurance career opened the door to a lifelong friendship with a “Tremendous” man—Charlie “Tremendous” Jones—and you’ll be quoting Charlie, like Bob does, the rest of your life.
Oh…did I mention that besides banking, Bible smuggling, and beer branding (you gotta read Chapter 3!), Bob is a book guy? As “Resident Wordsmith” at WordCrafters, Inc., Kelly has authored or co-authored nearly 20 books and ghostwritten 40 books. His dad was sports editor of the New York Times for 21 years—so writing, apparently, in in his genes.
Oh…did I mention that Bob also has one of the world’s largest collections of quotations (nearly two million)? His sideline career as “Quotemeister” delivers, gratefully, dozens and dozens of powerful quotations in Protected! Some of my favorites:
• “Fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself.” (Daniel Defoe)
• “Trials are medicines which our gracious and wise Physician prescribes because we need them; and he proportions the frequency and weight of them to what the case requires.” (Sir Isaac Newton)
• “Lord, make me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road. Make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.” (Jim Elliot)
• “We are trying not so much to make God listen to us as to make ourselves listen to Him; we are trying not to persuade God to do what we want, but to find out what He wants us to do.” (William Barclay)
So…what does banking, beer, and Bibles have to do with Charlie “Tremendous” Jones (1927-2008)? You’ll laugh-out-loud at the insights and world class wisdom of this one-of-a-kind motivational speaker and Christ-follower. (I was privileged to host him at a gathering in the 1970s.) Charlie’s book, Life Is Tremendous, has sold more than two million copies. Wow. Click on the two-minute YouTube video below for a taste of Charlie on “Nothing Works!” (or read Chapter 16 in Protected!).
Protected! is published by Tremendous Leadership—and, trust me, every minute on this website will encourage you in your leadership and management journey. You can also order The Tremendous Power of Prayer, by Charlie “Tremendous” Jones and Bob Kelly on the website or here on Amazon.
And this reminder from Bob, quoting Charlie: "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read." Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, endorses this book. You will too!
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Protected! A True Life Story of God's Word Smuggled Behind the Iron Curtain—and the Influence of a "Tremendous" Man, by Bob Kelly.
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:
1) Bob Kelly quotes Oswald Chambers: “Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready.” So…is our team and our organization ready for the sudden surprise visit of God? If not, how do we get ready?
2) Bob Kelly doesn’t preach a sermon (thankfully) in Protected!—instead he tells stories and weaves Psalm 91 throughout the book (I rated Chapter 9 with five stars. It’s a must-read!). As you share your organization’s story—or your personal story—is it evident that God’s sudden surprise visits are common, or has your work become routine and mechanical and not God-breathed?
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Church/Nonprofit Financial Mistake #7
Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook
If you serve as a board member, staff member, or volunteer of a nonprofit or church, don’t miss the 400th issue of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (coming next week), with my review of two very helpful annual updates:
• Zondervan 2019 Church and Nonprofit Tax & Financial Guide for 2018 Tax Returns, by Dan Busby, Vonna Laue, Michael Martin, and John Van Drunen (Order from Amazon)
• Zondervan 2019 Minister’s Tax & Financial Guide for 2018 Tax Returns, also by Busby, Laue, Martin, and Van Drunen (Order from Amazon)
Here’s a teaser: what’s Number 7 on the list of the 10 biggest tax and financial mistakes made by churches and nonprofits? The answer: “Inadequate controls over disbursements, leaving the ministry at risk for embezzlement.”
Jason Pearson and I quote Will Rogers in the intro to the Budget Bucket chapter of Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook: Management Tools, Templates and Tips From John Pearson: “If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing is to stop diggin’.” For more financial wisdom and tools, visit the Budget Bucket webpage here. Click on the graphic below to order from Amazon.
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JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Does the Budget Bucket come up empty when you need a branding refresh? There are cost-effective alternatives to traditional communication strategies. Check out the innovative work from Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video). Click here.
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