Book: "If you Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat" by John Ortberg

Having just finished the 1st four Sackett novels and not feeling drawn to finish 4 other books I have started (see other posts below), I started looking through my bookshelf for what I thought was going to be another old fiction to re-read. My focus was drawn, pulled hard actually, to this book Cathy had given m 4 or 5 years ago.

Now, my attention might have been drawn to the pretty blue cover because of either the cover, or the fact it had a cover (I remove and throw away covers once I begin reading a book).

In any event, reading it I began. It's great how one can "just happen" to come upon something one needs at the right time. At 55 years old and after over 25 years in the mortgage buisness, I'm in the process of changing careers and I've struggled with many aspects of what is driving that decision. It is with bated-breath (bated, not baited) I read and learn from this book. Writing this intro after reading the Preface leaves me with the feeling that this book will make a purposeful difference!

My thoughts and margin notes are in italics while the rest are abbreviated take-aways from the author's words:

Note - if you've read much of my blogs, you've figured out that I'm a Christian. If that bothers you, just read past that and pick up on the high points of the author's point (or rather, my take-aways)

9/4/2010 Preface - the story of Peter walking on water in Matthew 14:25-32

• pg 9-10.
• The Bible is, among other things, a list of unforgettable walks.
• Let Peter's walk stand as an invitation  to everyone who, like him, wants to step out in faith, who wants to experience something more of the power and presence of God
• There is a consistent pattern in Scripture of what happens in a life that God wants to use and improve;
• There is always a call
• There is always fear
• There is always reassurance
• There is always a decision
• There is always a changed life

If the rest of the book is as good as the first two pages, this is going to be an exciting read and a book that will undoubtedly re-shape my thinking (and thus my life).

9/5/2010 Chapter 1; On Water-Walking

Great quote from T. Roosevelt about critics, credits, and cold timid souls

What goes into the making of a water-walker?

• Recognize God's presence. There is a pattern to these stories about people who walked with God and in each case God had to get people's attention.
• Discern betweed faith and foolishness
• Get out of the boat. Normally we have to really figure out "what are boat is."
• Expect problems. If you get out of the boat, you will face the wind and the storm there. But you might as well know now, there is no guarantee that life in the boat is going to be any safer.
• Accept fear as the price of growth. Fear will never go away as long as I continue to grow. Karl Barth said that confort is on of the great siren calls of our age. We have become not just couch potatoes, but pew potatoes, and boat potatoes (I'll add "job potatoes).
• Master Failure Management. Failure is not an event, but rather a judgment about the event. This is good. I've always quoted Zig's "failure is an event, not a person" and this adds a bit of depth to that thought. Failure is an indipensable, irreplaceable part of learning and growth. Failure does not shape you; the way you respond to failure shapes you.
• Learn to wait on the Lord. Most of us need to learn something about waiting. We have to learn to wait on the Lord to recieve power to walk on the water.
• Brings a deeper connection with God. God uses real-world challenges to develop our ability to trust him. We tend to seek a life of comfort and construct manageable lives with some security and predictability to maintain the illustion we are in control.

Chapter's highlight (for me). Fear and being wishy-washy. Why do we not get out of the boat? For me it is fear. Fear and being unsure of God's path for me. The part about "faith or foolishness" hit home. Sometimes I don't do something I want to do because I'm afraid I'm being reckless or foolish. Or, I do it but keep second guessing myself, and leaving myself a back door, or a window slightly cracked.

09/10/2010

Note - this book is proving to be one that I'll be putting in the Pondering and Re-reading stack and thus, my true underlines and notes would be too much for a single posting (I've messed up and done that before!). Thus, these are highlights of highlights.

Chapter 2: Boat Potatoes


I'm assuming you get the chapter title. Ortberg has a great sense of humor and does a good job bringing real life stories into his writings. I particularly like what I call chapter sub-titles.

• the price you pay for being a boat potato...."growth"
• the tragedy of the unopened gift; It's as if I've lived half my life waiting for life to begin, thinking it's somewhere off in the future.
• the chance of a lifetime is not something to take lightly
• all human beings, including you and me, give their lives to something...the only question is, what will you give your life to? Will it be worthy?
• so many people blame their refusal to get out of the boat on some external circumstance
• I must ruthlessly refuse to compar my talents with anyone else
• I must come to identify, cultivate, invest, prize, and enjoy the gifts that have been given to me
• Fear....the author wrote a lot about what fear does to be one becoming, and staying a boat potatoe
• If you've read much of this blog, you recognize why I like this book so much!

 Here's a question Ortberg asks at the end of the chapter: In what area of life (vocational, relational, or intellectual, etc) are you experiencing the most growth these days?

Chapter 3: Discerning the Call

• water-walking requires not only the courage to take a risk, but also the wisdom to discern a call.
• interesting to note that in most self-help book, risk-taking is highly praised. But in literature on psychological research, it is mostly a danger sign. Type Ts (thrill, risk seeking personalities), although they can do great things, are also more prone toward potentially destructive behaviors.
• author has good stuff on how to discern the difference between an aughentic call to get out of the boat from your own rash impulses
• calling is not so much choosing as it is listening
• calling often involves pain

 Good stuff.

09/17/2010

Chapter 4: Walking on Water

• Is it worth the risk?
• God really will honor truth-telling
• If I am going to experience a greater measure of God's power in my life, it will usually involve the first-step principle. It will usually begin by my acting in faith-trusting God enough to take a step of obedience.
• Faith is not the sort of thing that can be acquired by trying harder
• A great story told by Martin Luther on page 81
• We might be comfortable in our current job, but anxious about the possiblility that God wants to do some vocational realignment
• The indicator of fear
• The Indicator of frustration
• The Indicator of Compassion
• The Indicator of Prayer

Chapter 5: Seeing the Wind

• Resilient People Exercise Control Rather Than Passively Resign
• Resilient People Remain Committed to Their Values When Tempted to Compromise
• Resilient People Find Meaning and Purpose in the Storm
• Study questions that sticks out for me -
• What role have problems played in your growth in the past?
• How, with regard to a particular problem, could you move from passivity to exercising control and initiative?