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Why You Must Make Mistakes
An excerpt from the brand new book, Grow, Minister and Lead—Book
2: The Next Level
by Bill Allison with Dave Garda
 Mistakes
are the stepping stones to growth. In the process of inventing incandescent
light, the extraordinary Thomas Edison was once asked, “How does
it feel to have failed 10,000 times in your present venture?” Edison
is said to have responded, “I have not failed at anything 10,000
times. I have successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”
Edison later estimated that he performed over 14,000 experiments in the
process of inventing and perfecting incandescent light. Edison understood
that mistakes are required if you want to learn and grow.
Your personal growth and development as a volunteer in the church require
you to make mistakes—and then learn from them. (Note: When I speak
of making mistakes in your volunteer ministry, I’m not talking about
sin. All sins are mistakes, but not all mistakes are sin.) Elbert Hubbard
was particularly insightful when he wrote, “The greatest mistake
one can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
Rick Warren says, “If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re
not trying anything new. If you’re not trying anything new, then
you’re not learning. If you are not learning, then you’re
already out of date.” Making mistakes is an important part of learning.
The key is to not repeat the mistake! A mistake is only a failure when
we don’t learn from it!
 In
Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (And Rewards) of Artmaking,
authors David Bayles and Ted Orland tell a story about a ceramics teacher
who did an experiment with his grading system. He divided the class into
two groups. One group would be graded solely on the quality of
the one product they produced. The other group would be graded solely
on the quantity of the products they produced. The more pounds
of products, the higher the grade.
When the grading time came, a very interesting trend was noticed. The
highest quality works were produced by the group that was being graded
for producing quantity. The authors have this absolutely stunning conclusion
to offer those of us who desire to move from ordinary to extraordinary
in our lives and volunteer ministry:
It seems that while the ‘quantity’ group was busily
churning out piles of work—and learning from their mistakes—the
‘quality’ group had sat theorizing about perfection, and
in the end had little more to show for the efforts than grandiose theories
and a pile of dead clay.
When it comes to your life, your volunteer ministry and your personal
growth, are you churning and learning or safely sitting on a pile of dead
clay?
Reflection, Application, & Discussion Questions:
What mistakes have you made recently in your life? In your ministry?
What did you learn? Be specific.
The above article is an excerpt from chapter 2 of Cadre’s
Grow, Minister, and Lead—Book 2: The Next Level
* For more information GO
HERE.
* To download the PDF now GO
HERE.
 Tell
your friends about this issue!
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Oops!
One of My Most Embarrassing Mistakes |
Yes, we all have those moments when we wish we could crawl under a rock
and disappear from planet Earth. So in the spirit of this “Making
Mistakes” edition of Cadre Connection—and with the hope of
bringing at least a smile to your face, I share THIS
STORY.
* Do you have a story? We’d love to hear it! info@cadreministries.com.
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FREE
Amazing Time Management Secrets
If you’re tired of trying to balance everything
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Summer Ministry Tools You Can Use
The following tools are great for Bible study, Sunday school, small groups,
camps, missions trips—or just for your own walk with God this summer:
For Adults:
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No matter what age or season of life you are in
right now, finishing this life well is something to which you should
give some careful thought and intentional planning. The
Challenge of Finishing Well is a twenty-eight page
interactive workbook that is designed to help you wrestle with what
it means for you to finish well in God's eyes. It's ideal for small
groups or for use as a personal half or full day retreat.
More
Info / Buy Online |
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The
Women's Ministry Edition of the One Another Devotional Guide
helps you explore and apply twenty-five "one another"
verses to your life, family, community and friendships. (For example,
love one another, pray for one another, bear one another's burdens,
etc.) It is a 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" workbook of biblical challenges
that helps you fill your heart with the love of God--and then let
that love overflow into your relationships with people in PRACTICAL
ways! Each day is keyed to one of the five love languages! Great
for both personal and small group study!
More
Info / Buy Online |
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Many study the life of Nehemiah to glean from his
leadership prowess. However, we believe it was what Nehemiah believed
about God that made him such a great leader! What exactly did Nehemiah
believe about God that enabled Nehemiah to do great things for God?
That's precisely what the
BIG GOD--small problems devotional guide and audio CD
helps you explore!
More
Info / Buy Online |
For Adults and Students:
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The
One Another Devotional Guide helps you explore twenty-five
life-changing "one another" verses from the Bible. (For
example: love one another, pray for one another, bear one another's
burdens, etc.) It's a pocket-sized booklet of biblical challenges
that helps you fill your heart with the love of God--and then helps
you overflow God's love into your relationships with people in PRACTICAL
ways! Each day is keyed to one of the five love languages! (Buy
10 or more and receive a FREE download edition of our One Another
Small Group Guide.)
More
Info / Buy Online |
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The
One Another Small Group Guide--Twenty-five creative
activities aligned with the Cadre One Another Devotional Guide.
Ideas, activities and experiences that will help any group (large
or small) grow in their one-another values. This print version is
ready to share with your leaders. A
PDF download version is also available.
More
Info / Buy Online |
Just for Students:
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In Email
from Hell and More
Email from Hell, you'll meet the demon, Ichabod. He's
in charge of the demons who oversee the activities of Christian
students! His job is to train and advise the lower ranking demons
on how to discourage and misdirect Christian students so that they
don't become effective in their faith in Christ. In each of the
two volumes of Email from Hell, Ichabod's evil advice is captured
in a series of five emails that are accompanied by five Bible studies
for Christian students. Great for youth groups or for personal study.
More
Info / Buy Online |
Just for Fun…
Cadre: Equipping Local Churches to Make Volunteers
WILDLY Successful!
Cadre is a not-for-profit ministry [501(c)(3)] that exists to assist
local churches in becoming the greatest volunteer training organizations
in the world. We're asking God to give us 5,000 non-staff trainers who
are obsessed with Ephesians 4:11-12! To pursue certification to take Cadre
training to your church, contact info@cadreministries.com
Cadre staff serve as support-based, God-dependent missionaries to
come alongside volunteers and those who care for volunteers in the church
to help accomplish their God-given mission.
We provide FREE monthly online training for volunteers in the church
(Cadre Connection), for volunteer Jr. High Youthworkers (Batteries Included),
and for Student Leaders (Spiritual Caffeine). Visit www.cadreministries.com
to preview our recent free training or to sign up to receive training
in your email-box monthly.
For more information about bringing a certified Cadre trainer to
coach and train the volunteer teachers, leaders, and youth workers in
your church, contact info@cadreministries.com
For Cadre training resources visit http://www.cadreministries.com/store
All other tax deductible donations can be sent to:
Cadre Ministries
PO Box 278
Sycamore, IL 60178
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