Issue No. 487 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting highlights a unique story-telling approach (listen in on 100 coaching conversations!) to enrich your spiritual development. Plus—two memorable YouTube songs! And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and click here for the new book John wrote with his son, Jason, Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes—And What I Learned. See Mistake #12 below.
Mind the Gap! That’s the simple wisdom from Day 18 in the unique spiritual coaching book, Waiting for the Train.
This Train Is Bound for Glory!
Can you judge a book by its cover? Sometimes, perhaps.
Can you judge a book by the endorsements of the author’s friends? Maybe, maybe not.
But…can you judge a book by the foreword? In this case, yes!
Josh McDowell, the evangelical apologist, evangelist, and author of more than 150 books (not a typo!), wrote the foreword to this issue’s featured book, Waiting for the Train: Biblical Food for Growing Before Going. Noting that “Jesus was a great storyteller,” McDowell writes:
“I think there is a place in today’s world for stories that present what Jesus said in a different way, a way that resonates in truth without preaching and without overreaching.”
Who doesn’t love a good story? How about 100 short stories? The author tags himself with the memorable pseudonym, S. Tory Teller (“story teller”—get it?), and you immediately appreciate his focus on the story, not himself. (I do know the author. He’s legit and the real deal. Imagine—plowing through all the work of publishing a book and keeping your name hidden. Whew.)
The big idea: what should you be doing here on earth—while waiting for the train? The story teller is, at first, very confused. He wanted, and received, a free ticket. “I think it’s good for a one-way trip to glory,” he told the train station manager. (After reading that, I couldn’t resist. Click here to listen to Johnny Cash sing This Train Is Bound for Glory.)
Listen to This Train Is Bound for Glory (3 ½ min.).
What follows are short two-page and three-page stories between the ticket holder and Stan—a spiritual coach. Often over breakfast, the conversations take twists and turns down the road to spiritual maturity. I love this book! But…
…YIKES! Just when you think you can teach the course, Waiting for the Train WHACKS your know-it-all arrogance. I can’t stop talking about it. I recently shared a chapter with a very wise friend and he, too, was blessed and appreciative of the insights about our God of Glory.
Many of the chapters sneak up on you. Where is the author going with this rabbit trail? Then…WHAM. Right between the eyes. I love the format and the unique story-telling approach. Not preachy, just really solid content served up in tasty doses. Don’t miss the “robe of righteousness” conversation in Day 41.
I ESPECIALLY APPRECIATED:
• Day 10: The Journal of the Journey. Idea: read John 15 (the Vine and the branches chapter) every day for 30 days.
• Day 13: Why Hurry Through the Bible? The value of slowing down: “…one of the author’s nuggets of wisdom was to stay with a particular Bible verse until I was satisfied I’d claimed all that it had to offer.” Click here to listen to the classic anthem, Slow Down, by Chuck Girard.
Listen to Slow Down by Chuck Girard (4 min.).
• Day 18: Mind the Gap. On a trip to London, Stan bought a “Mind the Gap” sign (the ubiquitous warnings around the underground). It’s now on the wall of his study at home. “It reminds me to look for any ‘gap’ between God’s purposes and what I am doing in my daily life.”
• Day 40: Blessed with the Right Answer. Stan tells S. Tory Teller, “Jesus presented a question that I think is easily the most important question a person can be asked.” The question: “Who do you say that I am?” (For more, view “Jesus Claimed to Be God,” (3-min.) on Josh McDowell’s website.)
• Day 75: Having or Being Breakfast. In just two pages the story teller delivers a wake-up call about Satan as a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). Stan relates a friend’s comment from an African safari: “Some of the animals were either having breakfast, or they were being breakfast. The stronger adversary prevailed.”
• Day 98: Where’s Your Antioch? Acts 11:26 notes that it was in the city of Antioch when the disciples were first called Christians. So the two discuss the relevance of remembering your conversion details and talking about it. Two thumbs up!
You’ll love this book. Each day concludes with a three-part summary:
• Bible verses to consider
• Prayer
• Think on this
Click here to read the first chapter, “Waiting for the Train: Assurance of Salvation and What it Means for This Life.” Click here for the Waiting for the Train blog, and click here for the Facebook page.
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Waiting for the Train: Biblical Food for Growing Before Going, by S. Tory Teller (foreword by Josh McDowell).
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:
1) The book, Illuminate, creatively highlights how to “Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols.” How effective is our organization (and each of us individually) in communicating creatively through stories?
2) Waiting for the Train leverages 100 stories to communicate spiritual truths in a creative way—short, mini-conversations. As Jim West noted in his Amazon review, the story approach “feels like a fireside chat with a close personal mentor.” How could our organization be more effective at story telling?
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Mistake #12 of 25:
Talking the Coach Talk, But Not Walking It
Insights from Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes—And What I Learned, by John Pearson with Jason Pearson
Honest! You can become GREAT at making mistakes! Learn how here.
In Mistake #12, “Talking the Coach Talk, But Not Walking It,” John says he recently learned that he is an Advice Monster! And Gary Collins’ wisdom may also shock you. He says to beware of the coach or counselor who promises you can be anything you want to be! (Not possible.) John recommends two books for Mistake #12: Christian Coaching, by Gary R. Collins, Ph.D., and The Coaching Habit, by Michael Bungay Stanier.
Click here to view the list of all 25 mistakes and read the introduction to Mastering Mistake Making. To order this book from Amazon, click on the title for Mastering Mistake-Making: My 25 Memorable Mistakes—And What I Learned (10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning Workbook), by John Pearson with Jason Pearson.
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JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. There’s nothing more powerful than a well-told story! Contact Pearpod Media (Design, Digital, Marketing, Social) to hear three memorable stories of how our clients have crashed through the clutter to communicate their fork-in-the-road causes.
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