Radical Grace in Life and Leadership

People of the Second Chance

SILENCE IS NOT GOLDEN…SPEAK UP!

Posted by Mike Foster:

When a friend hits bottom, our silence is NOT golden.

Quiet support from the sidelines is not helpful when the critics and haters are yelling at the top of their lungs.

When people are hurting, our silence only communicates distance between us and them.

We can quietly pray. We can think about the person’s pain. We can feel deep sadness for them. These are nice things, but not good enough.

My advice: Go on the record with those who are hurting. Call them. Visit them. Text them. Tweet them. 140 characters of support is better than a book of silence.

When your world is falling apart you can feel sooooooooooooo alone. Trust me I know. And too often the only voice we hear is the critic living in our head.

So be a real friend. Have some courage and say the words. Write the letter. Pick up the phone for 5 minutes. Don’t be silent.

Someone needs you right now to remind them that they are loved…and that it is going to be ok.

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YOUR QUESTIONS FOR GAYLE HAGGARD

Posted by Mike Foster:

I’m going to be interviewing Gayle Haggard tomorrow at 10am for the People of the Second Chance blog.

We will talking about grace, second chances, and her new book called “Why I Stayed: The Choices I Made In My Darkest Hour.”

I certainly have some questions for her but I’m sure you have some thoughts and questions too. So what would you want to ask or say to Gayle?

Post your questions in the comments section below or you can Tweet it and tag it #potsc.

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THE RISE OF THE GRACE EXTREMISTS

Posted by Mike Foster:

We simply don’t get it. We think we have grace all figured out. But we are wrong.

Our thoughts on grace are sub-par and screwed up. I think sometimes God may wonder what the heck are they doing down there?

We proudly pump up second, third and fourth chances around here. Maybe 70 x 7 if we get REALLY RADICAL! But God says billions upon billions. Again and again and again I forgive you…so do the same for each other.

But unfortunately our relationships are infected with the disease of incrementalism. A sprinkling of grace there…a pinch of mercy over here…partial forgiveness for that dude that screwed us. Revolution doesn’t happen through bringing the crumbs and the bits.

What the world desperately needs are grace extremists, not a community of incrementalists where our next door neighbors, co-workers, and enemies would barely notice.

And the results so far…well…they can only reflect what we truly believe. Perfectly mediocre…and lacking the supernatural.

I write this to Mike Foster. And maybe for you too. God forgive us for our smallness and timidity.

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FLAT IS THE NEW GOOD

Posted by Jud Wilhite:

It used to be that when revenue or growth was flat or declining in both the for profit and non-profit sector, we’d ask, “What are we missing? What are we doing wrong?”

As a pastor, these were questions I would ask when the indicators of health that we looked at were showing signs of weakness.

But things are different now. Reality is different. It is hard to even know what questions to ask with the economy in the state that it has been in. Your church or your business may be taking a hard economic hit and may be doing everything right. We’re still adjusting to what the new reality will be.

Everything I read about my local economy in Las Vegas says that if we get to the end of 2010 and we are at the same place we were at toward the end of 2009 economically, we should do back flips for joy.

Everything I read about non-profits says that if your giving for 2010 stays at levels even close to 2009 you should be thankful.

Flat is the new good.

What do you think?

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THE TIGER WOODS FRONT ROW

Posted by Mike Foster:

I know we could stir up a lot of debate around what happened at Tiger Woods’ press conference. Especially if we discussed whether he meant it, the format, and all the other juicy details that the public seems to be so obsessed with these days.

But we aren’t TMZ or The View who profit from trashing, analyzing, and questioning everything. And we don’t exploit the pain of others.

So here are my simple thoughts.

I unashamedly support Tiger, can’t wait for him to play golf again, and pray that his marriage survives this crisis. I’m 100% in his corner.

What stood out to me on Friday? It was the people sitting in the front row.

His Mom who he hugged right after. A top executive from Nike whose company has refused to bail on him. And one of his best friends, fellow golfer Notah Begay, who has stood by Tiger since his college days.

The front row statement was profound. On the peaks, in the deepest valleys, we stand with our son, friend, and colleague. Let the crap hit the fan, we aren’t going anywhere.

We could all learn a lesson from that.

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