Communion Conundrum

Today as I checked on the communion supplies, as so often happens, I ended doing more than just checking supplies. I took everything out of storage and made preparations for a volunteer that takes care of assembling the cups in the trays.

As I was doing so I was struck by how nonchalantly I placed the little metal crosses on top of each of the communion tray lids. When I paused to consider this, I became aware that perhaps this nonchalant attitude is somewhat representative of my thoughts or worse yet lack of thought that is regularly given to considering the extent to which Jesus suffered for me. This cross that represents life to me and anyone else who is a follower of Jesus, this same cross represents the cruel death of our Savior. His blood was shed for us. His blood for our redemption...Sorrow for my sin and the sin of my friends has sort of wrecked me the past 24 hours...I can't imagine what Jesus must have felt like hanging on the cross with the entire scope of human sin weighing him down. 

Good Friday intro

This is the video we showed on Sunday morning to introduce the Good Friday service happening this coming Friday, April 2nd at 7p.

On mission - in business III

Tim Troyer - business coach / The Effective Coach - empowering your team for success

Tim is a business coach for individuals and companies around the world. In addition to his coaching life he also founded The Reckoning International.

Valuable take - aways:

• Every arena of life is designed for God's glory
• Jesus reached people where they were in an authentic honest manner
• Work is part of our holy calling to bring glory to the Lord
• God's principles work regardless of your position in life
• What is empowerment? reversing powerlessness.
• Where's the love and where's the power; LOVE NEVER FAILS. There is power in helping people reach their full potential, believe in people - see their potential, share your resources.
  

Know - Feel - Do
competency based development - knowledge, attitude and skills that shape the behaviors of successful people and businesses. There are things that people need to know, feel and do to be successful. Model leadership with empathy and compassion.

Coaching is not teaching, mentoring, advising or counseling. "Coaching is helping people to learn instead of teaching them." Sir John Whitmore

Adults learn on their own initiative, they learn more keenly and permanently.

• Insight is more powerful than advice. Jesus modeled this powerfully with the coaching he did with his disciples. "Who do people say that I am?" "Who do you say that I am?" Use questions to stimulate answers.

G.R.O.W.
Goal -specific, attainable / What is the one thing I should be doing?
Reality - change your current reality to a better one
Options - what can you start doing right now?
Will - what will you do? Who will you be accountable to?

• "If we are working with people and we don't have a positive impact in their lives - God is not a particularly happy camper"
  

"No executive has ever suffered because his subordinates were strong and effective" - Peter Drucker

Favorite quote: "Sometimes we act like Cinderella with amnesia...we dance with the Prince and then forget and regress back to scrubbing floors."

On mission - in business II

Session 2 the Effective Leader - Inspired or Tired? by Bill Mullet founder and CEO of Provia Door.

Love this - love hearing from unlikely sources...I shouldn't be surprised but these retreats and the variety of speakers are powerful in part because we get to be resourced by people from all walks of life. Bill is a Beachy-Amish pastor in addition to being a local business leader. His passion for leadership resonated with us on many levels.

Philippians 4:8 ⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. We as followers of Jesus are called to a higher standard as indicated by Pauls writing in Philippians.

Here are my take-aways:

• No organizational movement, no need to lead. If you aren't going anywhere you don't need a leader.

• Leadership is INFLUENCE. Influence is based on TRUST. Trust is based on CHARACTER, INTEGRITY, COMPETENCE, HUMILITY.

• When all else fails please don't use the authority card. If you do you've pretty much lost the game. i.e. because I'm the boss; I'm your Dad etc...

• An effective leader: Has a strong sense of purpose. Clear sense of calling. Knows what really fulfills them; is persistent; ask questions to help someone else answer their own questions. Possesses humility. Is progressive. Repents when necessary. Is a perpetual student. Loves his work. If you don't love your job...get off the bus. Has the ability to "color" and empower their people. Exhibits relational maturity; transparency. Is confident. Is a good follower. "One will never know how to be a great leader till he learns how to be a good follower!"

Loved this story: A young daughter was complaining about the difficulties of life to her mother and so the mother put three kettles of water on the stove, filling one with some carrots, another with eggs and yet another with some coffee.

After the water was brought to a boil; she put the carrots and eggs on a plate and strained the coffee into a cup. Then she asked her daughter to describe the effect that the water had on each item. Well, her daughter said, the carrots are mushy and soft, and the eggs are hard but the coffee..mmm it smells so good. Right, the mother said, now we have some choices...like the effect that the water had on the vegetables and eggs, do we also allow the water or difficulties of life to define us or do we, as the coffee defined what the water became, take our circumstances and define our environment to create a wonderful aroma?

Favorite quotes:
Howard Hendricks - "Most people don't think, they just rearrange their prejudices."

"If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters.


Bills book recommendations: Speed of Trust - Stephen R. Covey
Good to Great - Jim Collins

On mission - in business

Brenda and I are at the beautiful little town of Walnut Creek, OH spending time with many friends from across the country at the BOOST retreat. This is an annual business retreat that we got involved with several years ago that moves around to several different communities in the midwest and provides a time for followers of Jesus who happen to be business people to get together and refocus, network and re-energize.

This year we have a number of different speakers presenting in their areas of expertise. First up this morning was Glenda Lehman Ervin, vp of marketing from Lehman's Hardware in Kidron, OH. Glenda brought us a wealth of experience and information in the area of marketing and communication. I will post a video shortly that will show you her entire presentation. Some take away's to ponder and act on:

• Customers have choices – they want to be in charge
• We compete for wallet share
• Brand your product in such a way that you differentiate yourself from the competitor.
• There are multi channels for marketing communication - use them. Glenda named this brick, flip, click. Brick being the brick and mortar store front, flip as in catalogs and click on the internet. Of course, depending on your particular business you may have other avenues or you may only use several of these. But all should be considered as potential ways to build relationships with your customers and friends. Speaking of the internet, it was so important for me to hear her confirming the proper use of social media like twitter, facebook and you tube. Positive word of mouth is the best source of advertising, the internet is word of mouth on turbo. Great, great insight!
  
• Facebook is a free, immediate, international focus group
• Use Google alerts to track comments about you or your services/products.
• 2/3rd of people on the internet use some form of social media...think FB, Twitter etc...

• TESTIMONIALS!!! a potential customer needs an average of 6 testimonials about your product or service in order to click the "buy" button. Immediate take-away...get testimonials posted on your site.
  
• Track everything. Measure the effectiveness of your marketing by tracking everything. Know how people find you. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this. One is to use Google alerts. Do a little research and you'll find other ways as well. The easiest form of tracking if you have verbal communication is to ask. Simple, but most of us don't do it.
  
• Change happens very quickly - be prepared.


• Glenda's recommended reading is The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
  

Fearless

Recently I had a conversation with a friend regarding why cancer had given her a big scare last year and why her friend is in a reoccurring battle with the dreaded disease...questions like...if God is a good God...?? how do I manage the fear related to IT coming back...?? My words of encouragement like "God's purposes are at times secretive and unknown to us but his grace, love and mercy are ever present whether we feel it or not" were not cursory words said without thought or feeling but still seemed to be just words. I really don't have and didn't have any great answers but that conversation among others has caused me to do some very uncomfortable "fear" digging that is unearthing some of the why's and how's of my own fears.

One of the books I'm reading right now is Fearless by Max Lucado. He says "Fear will always knock on your door. Just don't invite it in for dinner. And for heaven's sake, don't offer it a bed for the night. What if faith not fear was our default reaction to the mole on our back; to the fear of going broke; being sued...? According to Jesus, this is possible. The one statement he made more than any other was "Don't be afraid." This past weekend New Spring Church showed this video of Zac and I'm posting it here for your and my encouragement.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10