It's Not "Hammer Time": Being mindful of your words and actions.

Read: Proverbs 10:11, Proverbs 12:18, Proverbs 15:4. Proverbs  16:24, Proverbs 18:21, 1 Corinthians 13.

God has given us many tools and also wants to produce the fruit of The Spirit in and through us. Sometimes people forget that things like harshness, anger, etc are not part of the fruit of The Spirit. 

Furthermore, the scripture reminds us that Love is patient, love is kind...(See 1 Corinthians 13) but sometimes others in our lives or even ourselves lack these very things in relation to others. I'm also reminded of Proverbs 16:24 "Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body." 

As always, our words can bring life or death to the hearer. Our words are more powerful than we realize because those words whether good or bad, stay with the hearer and sometimes much longer than they should when we speak unkind words. This is why I've shared in the past that the old saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words may never hurt me," while a nice sentiment, it's not really true because words do hurt and it takes more time mentally and emotionally to heal from words spoken to us. 

While there are times where we need to be more firm in our communication, we need to remember that even in being firm with others who have wronged us, or who need correction, or that we disagree with, we need to season that with grace so we can represent The Lord more effectively. 

CEO Leadership?

For at least the last decade there's been a movement within The Church to model church leadership / government after the structures often found in Fortune 500 companies in place of the model laid out in the Bible.

Instead of Pastors who are servant leaders like Jesus, you see more of a CEO with an executive board of directors model. Instead of Pastor/Edlers, and Deacons, you see CEO's, VP's and Directors.

Many conferences have sprung up with the latest fad led by keynote speakers who are seen as the sought after or up-and-coming leaders you "just got to be like", focusing on taking your leadership to the "next level". Unfortunately many of those conferences do not focus on the Biblical model. They often connected these sessions sometimes about strategies, not necessarily for evangelism and not on how to be a Biblical Shepherd, but how to increase your congregation size. They connect this with leadership as if the size of congregation truly has anything to do with leadership. You can have a small or a large congregation and can either be or not be an effective Biblical leader - size doesn't matter but the ability to teach God's Word, your character, your giftedness, your integrity and more are what truly matter.

I work for a fortune 500 company and I know first hand that there's a constant push to bring more and more shareholder value (Increased Profits) every year and it's this same push I see in similar form in the new "leadership" model. In the churches that focus on the new leadership strategies, instead of profits, it's increased congregations size plus increased giving to build a "business" um, I mean a church congregation/ministry. Granted there are obvious "business" aspect of a church but none-the-less the church isn't a business as the world would define rather, it is to be about God's business and we should tirelessly work to make it about Him - Keep the main things the main things!

Don't take me wrong, there are some good conferences out there where pastors can glean a lot from in order to be a more effective pastor and we ought to strive to grow continually be a good and effective shepherd as God Has called us to do so. We need to remember that none of this has anything to do with the latest fad or coolest new strategy. Leadership in the church should focus on and should be about the Bible - What God has to say about leadership. Let's pray that we'd be found doing His will and building His kingdom and not our own.

In Closing, here's another Blog entry that speaks to this and gives some examples of some of the conferences that are typically not truly building or raising up the right leadership in the church. Let's pray that those who choose to attend these conferences will not compromise or sell out to man's wisdom but stick solely with God's Wisdom.

http://www.alittleleaven.com/2010/06/leadership-idol.html

In Christ,

rlk

The Bible, The Economy, Money, and You...

I've been thinking and praying about the economy as well as our mission as people of God and I wanted to share a few brief thoughts here.

The Economy:

With all the finger pointing going on today, especially regarding the economy, the thought came to mind that as believers, the only finger pointing we should really be doing is Pointing People to Jesus Christ.

Don’t get me wrong, the economy is important and a complex topic however, eternity with Christ trumps the economy as the economy is a “momentary light affliction” in the big scheme of things.

Our Conduct in relation to the economy:

Let's work hard to be good stewards of what God has given us in our personal lives, through the corporate world, and in our government.

I share this because I firmly believe that some of the solution to what is currently taking place starts with us managing our finances better than we have been, amen!?

We need to seriously evaluate our own spending habits and make sure to ask God for help to direct our spending of what He's given you and I. We need to put Him first and give of the first fruits of our labor and He'll help guide us on how to manage the rest as we actively seek Him on this.

Our Conduct:

Let’s be a light in the darkness as we shine out His light to all those around us. Let’s be His ambassadors and not stuffy self-righteous/Bible thumping people. The truth is important but no one needs to be hit over the head with it nor will we be as successful in reaching people for Him if we only take that approach, amen?

Let us instead be the encouragers and the encouragement people need in these uncertain times, and let us make sure to speak the truth in love and be ready to share the hope that we have through the salvation we know through Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Let's work hard and be excellent workers, co-workers and employees as this will also glorify God as well as make the team we work with and ourselves even more successful. Let’s meet the hurting and disconnected right where they are. Let’s pray for others and each other like never before because effective prayer is powerful! Let's get in the Word and stay in the Word daily or as regularily as possible.

Let’s just get back to doing what it is we are supposed to be doing according to the Word, which of course assumes that we’re in The Word. :-)

Some Questions to Ponder:

• How are you doing during these dark economic times?
• Are you seeking Him and trusting Him?
• Or, are you trying to rely only on your own “wisdom”?
• What does the Bible say and teach you about finances?
• Are seeking God and studying His Word to see what He has to say about "your" finances?
• Are you putting into practice any financial principles you are learning or have learned through the studying Word or through something like Financial Peace University?

Some things to think about – thanks for stopping by, reading this post and letting me share from the heart. Would love to hear your thoughts so if you have time, please leave a comment especially in regard to how you're managing things during this period of time. Maybe you have some tips or pointers to share with others? Share them here. Tips on frugal living? Share them here to the benefit of all who may visit.

Blessings,
rlk

Sharing the Word with the free RefTagger tool

From time to time I'm blessed to be a recipient of great information regarding new technology that has been created by brilliant minds.

I was introduced to one such tool in the past few days, through one of the pastor's blogs from my home church, which is a tool called RefTagger.

This is a free tool that you can added to your web site or blog that will essentially share the Word in a window for any scripture you've references.

For instance, when I type John 3:16 you should see a link that if you hover over it, you'll see the verse pop up in the version of my choice which is the NASB (New American Standard Bible). This is a great tool for sharing the Word as it delivers the Scripture right here and right now whereas I used to have to link each reference to another site such as BibleGateway.com. That is still an option but this would take you to another site in order to read the passage or reference. The other great option is that you have several major versions of the Bible to choose from so you can use your favorite version, if available, on your site or blog!

Going forward, when I share something with scripture this will be an added feature you can look for and benefit from.

Spread to the word about this tool to others who you think might want to add this tool to their site or blog.

Again, here's the link for more information: http://www.logos.com/reftagger

If you use it make sure to thank them and drop me a line when you can as I'd love to see how you utilize it yourself!

Blessings,

rlk