Thursdays With Oswald—Bad Theology

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.

Bad Theology

Job’s friends came slowly to the conclusion that their view of God was right, therefore Job must be wrong. They had the ban of finality [the limitation or “curse” of having one’s mind made up] about their views, which is always the result of theology being put before God.

From Baffled To Fight Better

Putting theology before God makes a god out of my mind—and a very weak god at that. Or as G.K. Chesterton put it, “A weak mind is like a microscope, which magnifies trifling things but cannot receive great ones.”

Or maybe God said it best of all“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Job got it right. He continued to believe that God was doing something bigger than he could think or imagine. He didn’t close off his mind, or put his theology before God, or make a god out of his own ideas.

I pray that when the pressure is on, I can continue to trust God and not give in to the ban of finality.

How The Mighty Fall (book review)

This is the third in the series of books from Dr. Jim Collins: Built To Last, Good To Great, and now How The Mighty Fall. This is a book that Dr. Collins wished he didn’t have to write, as he uncovers the markers that contributed to the failure of once-great companies.

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you’re probably wondering why I’m reading/reviewing a business book. The answer is simple: the principles Jim Collins uncovers in his books are rock-solid principles of success and failure, regardless of the organization in which they are practiced or ignored. In all three of his books, I have mined so many great truths to apply to my personal life, as well as the organizations I lead.

In How The Mighty Fall we learn about the five stages of decline for once-great organizations. Working backward from his evidence, Dr. Collins then gives us “markers” to look for in our own organizations that would tip us off to the stages of decline.

Why study this? Because I want to lead a great church! This quote from the book especially resonates with me:

“The point of struggle is not just to survive, but to build an enterprise that makes such a distinctive impact on the world it touches, and does so with such superior performance, that it would leave a gaping hole — a hole that could not be easily filled by any other institution—if it ceased to exist.” (emphasis added)

If you are involved in the leadership of any organization (whether for-profit or non-profit), I would encourage you to devour all three of Jim Collins’ books.

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