“If It Ain’t Broke . . .”
Hillcrest Church Office
August 21, 2003
LeaderLines is a weekly “e-briefing” providing valuable information and inspiration to those who serve at Hillcrest Baptist Church.
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Here is this week’s LeaderLines . . . .
“If It Ain’t Broke . . .”
by Tom Goodman
“Brother Tom, you’re stretching me.”
She made this comment over dinner she had prepared for me and my family, and she went on to speak of her excitement about the new possibilities ahead for Hillcrest.
She’s ninety-two.
“A shift in rhythm can renew vitality.” That’s David Allen’s conviction, expressed in a recent edition of his Productivity Principles e-newsletter. He goes on to explain: “Too consistent a pattern in anything over an extended period
of time creates conditioning that can limit perception and performance. Shifting pace and rhythm automatically fosters an expanded and more conscious perception of what’s going on.”
In other words, if it ain’t broke . . . well . . . break it.
Consistency . . . predictability . . . routine . . . sameness. For a lot of folks, these are the words that guide their decisions and reactions. Such folks believe that security can be found in such words.
Not necessarily. I read that soldiers break step when they march over a bridge. Otherwise, the drumming feet of their coherent rhythm runs the danger of creating a harmonic vibration that will destroy the structure.
Imagine that – marching soldiers know that failure to change their rhythm can destroy. It’s true in other areas of life, too. Ask the bored homemaker . . . the restless husband . . . the unmotivated employee . . . the unimaginative
artist . . . the stalled-out Christian.
Change is a healthy part of any living thing. Part of the partnership you and I have in leading Hillcrest will sometimes involve change. In fact, “change management” (as one consultant refers to it), is a key part of any leader’s
duties. It involves listening, earning trust, persuasion, and persistence. Let’s pray for each other as we develop the fine art of leading change!
Higher,
Tom
P.S. If you subscribe to our other e-newsletter, Winning Ways, this week you read my invitation for seekers to join me in “A Search for the Spiritual.” I thoroughly enjoy getting in a room with “near-believers” who are asking questions of
Christianity. I hope their questions, insights, and friendship make me a better speaker and leader. If you know someone who would benefit from this course, forward this week’s copy of Winning Ways to them. And pray for me as I try
to form a new class. For more information about “seeker classes,” go to www.lifeway.com/pastor_cg020620.asp.
EXTENDED TEACHING CARE needs your help! ETC is an important ministry to our preschoolers and their parents. The ETC ministry provides loving lessons for our little ones while their parents are free to worship. Right now our worker
rotation is once every 7 weeks, but with your help we can get worker rotation to once every quarter! We need 36 more volunteers to reach this goal. If you are a parent who uses the ETC, it’s very important that you take your turn once a
quarter. Also, if you attend the 8:30 a.m. service, please consider signing up for the 10:45 a.m. ETC once a quarter. Contact BJ Linam at bj@hbcaustin.org or 345-3771.