Far Exceeds

“God’s plan for your life, far exceeds the circumstances of your day.” As the end of the year is here, it is customary to review our performance with our manager / employer. The first step often is a “self-appraisal” that we prepare and present to our boss for consideration. This process typically entails a review of our goals and objectives for the year, an assessment of how well we did in terms of our job responsibilities, an evaluation of our work effort, and ends with our perspective concerning our strengths and “opportunities for improvement.” And many times we are asked to rate ourselves on the company’s rating scale – e.g., far exceeds, exceeds many, meets all, meets some, fails to meet.

What would it look like if you did a self-appraisal with your Creator / God?

We would start with our job responsibilities, which could be summed up in a few words … Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And, Love your neighbor as yourself.

From there we could move on to the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the “Whatever You Did to the Least of My Brothers” responsibilities. How would you and I rate ourselves? Outstanding? Very Good? Satisfactory? Needs Improvement? What specific examples do we have to support our rating?

We then would move on to the section on how we get the work done … things like problem-solving, organizing people and resources to accomplish tasks, handling pressure, following through, meeting deadlines, achieving balance between work quality and quantity, taking responsibility for actions, cooperating with others, having a positive attitude, listening to feedback well, striving to do the best job possible, and so forth. How would we evaluate our prayer life, loving one another in our relationships, extending forgiveness, honoring the Sabbath, serving the poor, multiplying our talents, being humble, giving thanks?

Finally, we come to the last page – the identification of strengths and those darn “opportunities for improvement.” And the bottom line – our overall rating / grade / score.

This process feels quite daunting and intimidating to me. Yet very valuable and meaningful if I truly want to serve God with all my heart, soul, mind, and body. And the amazing news is that we always get the maximum reward! No matter what our performance! Because God gave us His Son to redeem us. His Love is not conditional on your or my performance. God “far exceeds” all the time.

Do You Lead with Joy?

“If ‘the joy of the Lord is your presence,’ then please inform your face!” Ellie Lofaro’s words resonated deeply with me as I listened to her keynote speech at the 2013 Christian Leadership Alliance conference. It raised a question for all of us: Do we lead with joy? Leadership is hard work. Long hours, disappointing results, difficult decisions, and unseen obstacles are simply part of the journey for a leader. Leadership is also important work. Whether we’re in a business or ministry setting, we have an opportunity to partner with God to make a profound difference in the lives of others. Patrick Lencioni says it this way: “I have come to the realization that all managers can – and really should – view their work as a ministry. A service to others.” This is a calling that we should take seriously.

That leads back to my question about leading with joy. Does the seriousness of your calling keep us from smiling? Is there joy in your leadership that starts in your soul and overflows to the people that you are leading? Or do you somehow believe that this particular fruit of the Spirit does not apply to leaders?

When I think back to different leadership roles that I had in business and in ministry, I wish that I had led with more joy. What would that have looked like? I might have been less upset when things didn’t turn out the way I wanted. I might have slowed down a little, focusing more on people and less on tasks. I would have paid as much attention to team chemistry as team results. And it certainly would have been more evident in my face.

So what about you: Do you need to lead with more joy?

Management, Theology and the Marketplace

The intersection of Management, Theology and the Marketplace is where you as a Christian leader/manager spend most of your vocational time. As such you experience regularly the dynamics and relationships between them. It is my experience that very few other people, including most spiritual counselors, really understand the intersection. Listen to what Peter Drucker, the renowned management leader said about that intersection: "I have learned more theology as a practicing management consultant than when I taught religion."

That is an amazing statement!

He goes on to elaborate.

"  . . because the object of management is a human community held together by the work bond for a common purpose, management always deals with the nature of Man (as all of us with any practical experience have learned) with Good and Evil, as well."

That so well illustrates the unique challenges that Christian business leaders face and experience on a daily basis. And because it is a unique intersection there are few resources to refer to; hence the positive advantages of groups of fellow Christian leaders who understand both the challenge of being a CEO/Leader and of being committed to do so with a biblical view point of man and other resources. God is a part of the equation.

Drucker adds:

"Society needs a return to spiritual values - not to offset the material but to make it fully productive, . . . . . The individual needs the return to spiritual values, for he can survive in the present human situation only by reaffirming that man is not just a biological and physiological being being also a spiritual being, that is creature, and existing for the purposes of his Creator and subject to Him".

As we just celebrated the Advent event of Christ's birth, and as we plan our 2015 journeys, consider the opportunities and responsibilities of growing in the intersection of Management, Theology and the Marketplace.

Seizing The Value Of The Present

Move at the pace of your awareness, not your agenda. Proverbs 16:9.In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.

Have you ever considered that the pace of your mind might be moving so quickly that you are blazing past all that is rich, relevant and candidly in need of your focused presence? And perhaps like a film in fast-forward, those around you are not getting the fullness of your love, gifting or attention, but fragmented frames of your presence flickering so quickly that there’s little room for intimacy, impact or fulfillment… let alone memories. This is the pace of many. Most times the pace is too fast, other times too slow, and for fleeting moments it moves at just the right speed… the speed of awareness, discernment and peace, instead of the pace (should this be peace or pace?) of irrelevance. As I read of Jesus’ encounters with others, I am reminded of the value that resides in opening our eyes and our hearts to what is happening around us. Although there was great attention on Jesus at all times, He moved at a pace that, despite the intensity of his surroundings, was keenly attuned to what was going on around him. He noticed amidst the thousands, not just the blind man, but the depths of this man’s heart as well - simply from the power of a still glance. His agenda was nothing more than to be present, to move at the pace of allowing an external opportunity to become an internal calling where acknowledging, receiving, and responding were as natural as breathing and as peaceful as resting. It escapes us at times that God is Omnipresent. Perhaps we should aspire to simply “move at the pace of awareness” and trust God to handle the baggage of our past and the luggage for our future so we can leverage the potential of what is right before our very eyes.

The Big Question:What am I missing by moving at the pace of what I think needs to be, and not the pace of what simply is?

Can You Really Make An Impact On Someone's Life?

Every day we are presented with an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life. In that very moment, we wait for the “nudge”, we look for the “opening”, sometimes it passes us by and we wonder what could have happened if we would have done something. However every now and then we take the leap of faith and are amazed at what happens when we choose to make a difference. As you begin to ponder all you can do to make a difference, I want to share a few stories with you and will let you come to your own conclusion.  In our company, we encourage our members to give $100 to people when the “nudge” comes.  The stories we have heard over the years never cease to amaze us.

What if we told you $100 has ultimately impacted over 10 million people (and we are probably being way too conservative). Paul Young, author of the The Shack and Crossroads, has one of the most incredible stories I have ever heard. Paul Young has the ability to literally change the way you look at the world, your own life and what you believe. However you have to wonder after you listen to his story if all of his successes and influence would have ever happened without the generosity of one individual who thought he would attempt to make a difference on one evening.

Click here to listen this incredible story – http://bit.ly/1thfuvE

If that story is not enough to get you thinking about what is possible, watch the following video that we recently came across:

Click here to watch -

http://youtu.be/VumKim-tWIk?list=PLEb3ThbkPrFYcsA7NXKOk4DhT_MQpNAjw

You have a choice every day to use your time, talent and/or treasure to make a meaningful impact on those around you. Your spouse, your family members, your employees, the person standing behind you in line at the coffee shop are all in need of something, you could be the catalyst that allows them to find the peace and freedom in this world they are starved for, that we are all starved for.

Romans 12:4-8

4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

We have all been given different abilities, talents and treasure. It is our responsibility to leverage those gifts to serve those that are in our circles of influence.

We can all make a difference.

During this holiday season, I challenge you think differently and listen for the “nudge” to see if  $100 can make a difference.

To learn more go to www.whatcould100dollarsbuyyou.com