Monthly Archives: December 2013

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John Maxwell Leadership Book Give Away

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[title color=”orange-vibrant” align=”scmgccenter” font=”georgia” style=”normal” size=”scmgc-7em”]Free Book Give Away!!![/title]

John Maxwell

Another Free Book Give Away?

You read that right! I am offering a free copy of John Maxwell’s book, Developing the Leader Within You.

How Do You Win?

If you scroll down just a bit you will see the Rafflecopter entry form which outlines a bunch of ways to enter the Developing the Leader Within You giveaway. Just complete as many as you would like to be entered to win!

Why Am I Doing This?

I started this blog in an effort to spread the message of integrating the Christian faith into our businesses. I want to see more Christian business owners and leaders begin looking at their businesses from an eternal perspective and running them as platforms for Christian ministry.

While I know my posts are written toward this effort, I thought I would try to step it up a notch for 2013. My plan is to give away one book a month for the entire year! All I am asking from you is to follow the Rafflecopter instructions below. As you enter, you will be helping me to spread the word about this blog at the same time. We both win!

This Month’s Book: John Maxwell’s Developing The Leader Within You

Few of us are natural-born leaders, according to John C. Maxwell, author of Developing the Leader Within You. Fortunately though, “the traits that are the raw material of leadership can be acquired,” he promises. “Link them up with desire and nothing can keep you from becoming a leader. This book will supply the leadership principles. You must supply the desire.” True to his words, Maxwell offers a detailed and inspiring primer on becoming a leader.

Enter The Give Away

Follow the instructions below to enter the Developing The Leader Within You contest and then spread the word to others! The contest ends at midnight on Tuesday, December 31st and the winner will be announced on Wednesday, January 1st.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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What Does Your Future Need From You?

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Every once in a while, if you will just listen, you will hear a great line that will stick with you. Sometimes it comes from where you least expect it. Other times, you are listening for it. Either way, when you hear it, you know you need to burn it into your mind and apply it as quickly as possible. I heard one today about the future. I have to share it!

future

Greatness Takes Time!

Years ago, I heard a similar line that stuck with me – “The best time to plant an oak tree was 10 years ago. The next best time is now!” This line communicates the idea that greatness rarely happens overnight.

Greatness takes time and energy. It also takes forethought. If we never consider our future as we plan our current activities, then we will miss a lot of opportunities at greatness!

Question About Your Future

In light of that, I want to share what I heard today. While the idea is similar, I believe the more personal nature of today’s question can be even more impactful!

We have recently hired a good friend of mine to train our sales staff at the dealerships. I have come to truly respect the gifts that God has given him related to training and interacting with others. Once you have spent five minutes with him, you know he is a gifted communicator and that he is close to the Lord.

Just this morning, as he was encouraging our sales staff to start doing those activities that will pay dividends in the future, he asked a question about the future that grabbed my attention. Of course, as quickly as this question grabbed my attention, he lost me. From that point on, I was only thinking about his question! Here it is:

What is the five-years-from-now version of you begging you to start doing right now?!?

Future Questions

If you remember, I said he was a gifted communicator, not an English major! Regardless, I think you get the point. Try to imagine yourself five, ten, or twenty years from now. What would that version of you beg you to start doing right now?

What habits would he ask you to create?

Where would she plead with you to begin investing your time and energy?

What would he beg you to stop doing?

What might she urge you to begin learning?

Obviously, these are only a few of the questions that come to mind. If you spend any time at all thinking about this idea, then I am sure you can come up with more.

Take Time To Think

I encourage you to stop and take some time to think about this question. Think about the future you and what your desires and needs might be. Think about how your goals will likely change. Try to discern the best way for the current you to begin laying the groundwork.

As you do this, pray through it. Ask God to give you insights that you have not had before now. Ask Him for wisdom regarding your future and how He wants to use you in it. Finally, pray that He will give you the strength of commitment that you need in order to start on this new path.

I won’t promise anything, but I believe I see a few new posts coming from my own meditating over this question. I will share in future posts whatever comes up!

What are the first thoughts that come to your mind?

Have you thought about your future this way before?

Are you committed to lay groundwork for your future?

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Fruit Consistent With Repentance?

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As we head into the Christmas season, I love to go back and read the original Christmas story. I am not merely referring to the birth of Jesus, but also to the beginning of His ministry. Today, I want to look at this part of the story and focus on John the Baptist. Let’s see what he can teach us about the fruit we should be producing.

fruit

John The Baptist

Prior to the baptism of Jesus and the beginning of His ministry, his cousin John the Baptist was out in the wilderness preaching about repentance. Crowds of people were coming out to hear him and learn from him. Not the most polite or tactful preacher, John just told them the raw truth! I love that!

Take a look at how he greeted them as they came out to hear him:

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Luke 3:7

Kind of makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, huh? Well, regardless of your thoughts, his greeting did not turn the people away. In fact, it is only a few verses later that they ask him what they should do!

How To Produce Fruit?

John then went on to clarify that they had no excuses for their behavior and they should be producing fruit consistent with repentance.

Did you catch that? What does it mean to produce fruit that is consistent with repentance? I have a few ideas, but I would rather hear from John the Baptist himself as to what he meant by that!

If we keep reading, he clarifies this by giving us three specific examples of fruit that I believe we can apply to our lives and businesses today. Let’s take a look!

“The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.”
Luke 3:11

Fruit #1 – Share With Those In Need.

John makes it clear that many of those in the crowds had plenty while others were in need. He did not mince words, but cut right to the point. For those who had more than they needed (two shirts), they were to give to those who had none.

This is easy for us to apply today, right? I guess the only question is how much is more than we need? Just because our paycheck does not always stretch far enough past our bills does not mean we are in need.

I think we all need to look in the mirror and realize that we are rich if we are reading this right now. Then we just need to go and give to those who are in need. There is not much I can (or need to) add to John’s words here.

Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He told them, “Don’t collect any more than what you have been authorized.”
Luke 3:12-13

Fruit #2 – Don’t Collect More Than You Should.

In this day and time, the tax collectors were the most hated because they were notorious for collecting more in taxes than was owed. They simply kept the difference for themselves. John was calling them out on it!

While I am certain some of you allowed your mind to immediately run toward politics, that is not at all what we need to focus on here! John’s message here applies to us as well. For those of us that own or operate businesses, this message applies to us as well.

Certainly, my industry is also notorious for using smoke and mirrors to charge more for our products. In fact, that is why we made dramatic changes to our process – so we would not be collecting more than we are “authorized.”

What about your business? Are there grey areas where it is unclear or not very transparent to the customer? Are you taking advantage of your authority or leverage to charge more than a fair profit?

This could also apply to employers taking advantage of the employees under their authority. “Collecting more than you should” could apply to taking more benefit from your employee’s work than you are paying for. Have you thought about that?

Maybe it is time to do a deep dive and assess the condition of your pricing and/or compensation policies.

Some soldiers also questioned him: “What should we do?” He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation; be satisfied with your wages.”
Luke 3:14

Fruit #3 – Be Satisfied With Your Wages.

To the soldiers, John addressed their wages. These are people under authority. Sure, they have leverage, but they also answer to others. John made sure they understood that even though they COULD gain greater wages through force or device, they were not to do so.

How does this apply to us today? Does this mean we are not to seek to earn more, even if it is for the advance of the kingdom through giving more? No! It simply means that we are to use our skills and effort to do so, not undue force or deceit.

Just because you know your boss is in a precarious position and cannot easily replace you does not mean you are justified in taking advantage of him by consistently coming in late or leaving early. Just because it is the busy season and you know you are needed does not give you the right to demand a raise under threat of walking out.

Have you examined your fruit lately?

Did any of John’s examples hit a nerve with you?

What fruit should you start producing?

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Do Others Know Of Your Commitment To Christ?

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I have recently been reading in Philippians and came across a couple of verses that caught my attention. Paul, the author of Philippians, is writing to the members of the church at Philippi. He is writing to encourage them in their commitment to Christ and in doing so, he sets a high standard for us.

commitment

Tough Circumstances

See Paul was most likely in prison (Phil. 1:14) as he wrote this letter. His future is not clear to him at this point, but he knows he is likely to suffer more for Christ before it is over. He has every reason, based on his circumstances, to throw his own pity party.

Based on his treatment to this point by those opposing his preaching, as well as the likely suffering he will face ahead, Paul should be depressed. He should be writing to complain about his unjust incarceration. He should be begging others to come to his aid, right?

Paul’s Response

Instead, what do we find him doing in this letter? In general, he is encouraging those in the church at Philippi for their commitment to Christ. He is praising them for their generosity and their bold commitment to share the gospel.

Not only that, but the verses that caught my attention show another perspective of Paul’s commitment to Christ. Take a look at these verses:

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in the advance of the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is in the cause of Christ.
Philippians 1:12-13

Did you catch the point here?

Depth Of Commitment

Paul is not wailing away in the prison cell about how he is unjustly imprisoned. He is not laying around crying about what he could or should be doing. No!

Apparently, Paul is showing the depth of his commitment to Christ by continuing to tell everyone about the gospel! Paul tells the Philippians that his imprisonment has actually served to advance the gospel.

He goes on to tell how everyone, including the Imperial Guard (elite guards of the Roman Emperor), knows that he is in chains because of his commitment to the cause of Christ. Paul has obviously been sharing the gospel with anyone that would listen!

Questions For Us

So the questions for you and me:

Do others know of OUR commitment to Christ?

Is it clear to all around us that we do not fear our circumstances or worry about the future because we know that God is in control?

Do we maintain our commitment to Christ even when our circumstances are depressing?

Take Inventory

I think we all need to take inventory of our situations. We need to assess how well we are handling them in light of our commitment to Christ.

Maybe we need to rethink where we are placing our confidence (in God or in the world?). Maybe we need to then turn and follow Paul’s example. If we did this, what might it look like?

Our Response

We are Christian business owners and leaders in a culture that is increasingly intolerant of our Christian faith. Rather than cowering in fear of offending someone, we should continue to speak out about the truth of the gospel. If Paul could do it in chains, surely we can do it now.

We are also part of an economy that is fragile. Rather than focusing our attention solely on increasing our performance and protecting against potential financial pitfalls, we should consider the advance of the gospel. Fast forward one hundred years – on which of these will we wish we had spent more time?

I think the answer to that question is clear. We don’t think about it that way very often, but I believe that is EXACTLY how we are instructed to think about it. And when we do, people will notice.

Costs vs. Rewards

Sure, there are costs to this eternal perspective. Fortunately, the rewards outweigh the costs in ways we cannot even imagine! For those with a full commitment to the cause of Christ, God will make Himself known. He will strengthen them in ways that they cannot understand.

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
2 Chronicles 16:9

Have you been too focused on your circumstances?

Where could you be more focused on the advance of the gospel?

What needs to change for you?