Tag Archives: faith and work

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Do You Recognize This Christian Leader?

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Yesterday, we had a lesson in Sunday School that is near and dear to my heart. The topic was Christian Leadership and I had the opportunity to teach it! Because the material is so relevant to Christian business, I thought I would share the material and apply it to our situations as Christian leaders in the business world. Before I reveal the identity of the mystery Christian leader below, let’s take a look at the material.

Christian leader

Paul Describes Christian Leaders

The text of the lesson came from 1 Timothy 3:1-15, where Paul is instructing Timothy about the leadership of the church body. As Paul progresses, describing the qualities of the overseer and then the deacons, he gives some very high standards.

Paul mentions critical characteristics like the following:

    • Good reputation with outsiders
    • Good manager of the household
    • Not greedy for money
    • Self-controlled
    • Respectable

Who Comes To Mind?

When you are thinking about Christian leadership and these standards, what comes to mind? Does someone you respect as a Christian leader pop into your head? Or do you think about a leader you know (or work with) that needs to take on some of these qualities?

Either way, most people think about someone else. Maybe it is because they read this text to be directed at Pastors and Deacons in their church. Maybe they just do not feel like a leader themselves.

Someone Else?

Whatever the reason, the vast majority of believers in Jesus do not immediately think of themselves as Christian leaders. If this is true of you, you are not alone.

Unfortunately, being part of the majority (at least in this case), does not make you right. In fact, I will simply say this – if you are a believer and disciple of Jesus Christ and do not see yourself as a Christian leader, then you are mistaken.

Before you get offended, please read on and see if this makes sense to you at the end.

Leadership Defined

To find the definition of leadership, there are many places you can go. I have done this and I think I can save you the time of doing it yourself. By far, the best definition of leadership I have found comes from John Maxwell.

If anyone has read John Maxwell, you know that he understands leadership. He has written more books than anyone else on the subject…in fact, later this week, I will be giving away a copy of one of his books The 5 Levels of Leadership on this site! Make sure to check back with my Friday post and enter to win!

Here is John Maxwell’s definition of leadership:

Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts.
It is about one life influencing another.

If you don’t mind, I am going to boil this definition down a little:

Leadership is Influence.

Let that sink in.

What Does This Mean?

If leadership is influence, then that means that anyone in a position or role to influence someone else is a leader. Is that right?

Let’s say that again so we make sure we are in agreement. You are a leader if you are in a position or role to influence someone else.

YOU Are The Christian Leader!

Do you get that? Do you realize that this means YOU are a Christian leader? You are the mystery Christian leader in the picture above! If you influence your children, co-workers, friends, or anyone else, then you are a Christian leader. You do not have to be elected or appointed to a particular office – you just have to be an influence on someone else!

That is a big point and you need to make sure you absorb that. At the same time, I have another point to go along with it.

You Cannot Avoid It

This position or role of influence you have – it does not have to be one that you volunteered to take on. You did not have to choose this position or role to qualify you for Christian leadership! The fact that you are a Christian and you influence others (willingly or not) makes you a Christian leader. There is no avoiding it!

Let’s take a look at someone that I would argue has been in a position of leadership, but appears to feel otherwise. Depending on your age (and maybe gender), you probably know Charles Barkley. He played professional basketball for many years and was a superstar in his day.

The following video is a Nike ad that ran at the time Barkley was playing. Watch the video and then let’s discuss his words.

Is He A Role Model?

I will not argue with some of what Barkley says in this video. I agree that parents should raise their kids and not rely on professional athletes to be the sole influence.

At the same time, Barkley is simply wrong when he says he is not a role model. Like it or not, his celebrity is enough to qualify him as a leader. Maybe he is not a good one – not my point. Maybe he is not an intentional one – don’t have enough information.

But – whether he likes it or not – he is a leader. His influence puts him in that role and there is nothing he can do to avoid it.

Also True For Us

Folks, the same is true for us. When we made the decision to follow Jesus Christ, we put ourselves in a position of influence and therefore became Christian leaders. Whether we like it or not, that is who we are and we much accept it.

This Christian leadership is our role whether we are in an entry-level position or a C-level position. We are Christian leaders whether we are still working or retired. Our title, office, or position have nothing to do with this. It is up to us to accept this and embrace it.

Now that we understand our role as Christian leaders, what do we do about it? What does this look like? In my next several posts, I am going to discuss this very idea and try to give you a clear picture of what it needs to look like.

What are your thoughts right now?

Do you agree that you are a Christian leader?

How long have you realized this?

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The Daily Game Plan: A Must Use Tool!

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If you have ever worked on a life plan for your life, then you know the process can be somewhat overwhelming. You likely know that maintaining that life plan can become a burden at times, depending on how you have it set up. In light of that, I have come up with a tool I am calling a daily game plan that may just be the help you are looking for!

game plan

Daily Game Plan

In my last post, I described how I progressed from modifying and tweaking my life plan to creating a more simple tool called a daily game plan. Birthed out of an idea I got from reading Seven Days in Utopia, this daily game plan is an effort to apply life plan strategy to our daily lives. Take a look at my last post for more on the thought process behind this tool.

As I promised in the last post, I want to take you through the current version of my daily game plan tool. I will go over each area and explain how I use it. I will also give you the option to download a pdf of it. As I go through this process, be thinking about how you would improve this tool. I am going to ask you for your feedback at the end.

How To Proceed

The best way for you to go through the rest of this post is to [CLICK HERE] for a marked-up, full-screen view of a completed daily game plan. Because each section is labeled to make it easier to follow along, you will likely want to keep this open in the separate tab and flip back and forth between them. If you would prefer, you can also just print a copy. Either way, it will be helpful to have it visible as you progress through my description below.

Section #1 – Key Questions

This first section is fairly simple. As you can see, I put the day and date in the box at the top and then I read through the questions. These questions are some that I pulled together and may change from time to time. You could add your own here.

Sometimes I actually write a one or two word answer to some of the questions. Sometimes I just think about them and leave them blank. The point is to read and contemplate these questions every day. I want these thoughts becoming part of my mindset throughout the day.

Section #2 – Calendar

The next section is a condensed calendar picture of my day – only the highlights. I do not put more than three or four items on this calendar. The purpose of this section is two-fold.

First, I want to think through my day and how it will flow. When I have to write it like this and only have room for the select few events, I have to visualize how they will fit together. The second reason is to remind me of those bigger appointments when I glance over the game plan during the day.

Section #3 – Key Focuses

In this third area of my daily game plan, I write the most important task or project for me to accomplish that day. Sometimes there are a total of three or four of these items when I combine the three categories – Work, Home, Other. More often, there are only one or two items listed here.

While my to-do list is always much larger than this, completing this section of the game plan forces me to determine and prioritize my most critical tasks. This is a great exercise, especially when many days my to-do’s overwhelm me. I find that it is seldom that I do not accomplish all that is listed here.

Section #4 – Outreach & Prayer

In this part of the game plan, I stop to think about the people I am likely to work with that day. Is there anyone in particular, employee or otherwise, that I need to reach out to in a special way? If someone comes to mind with clarity, then I write their name in the space and pray for the opportunity to impact them. If not, I leave it blank.

After that, I write in those areas about which I know I need to pray. This may be something related to my marriage or my children. It could be a pending decision at work or even a habit I am trying to break. Nothing is off limits here (except a confidential request from someone else!).

Section #5 – Potential Problems

This is one area where I have seen the most impact on my days since I have been using this daily game plan. Here, on the left side, I ask the question, “What could go wrong today?” I then write down any potential surprises or obstacles that I think may pop up during the day to come.

I imagine what it might look like if a conversation I plan to have that day ends up going bad. It could be that I might receive bad news in a pending project I am working on. It could even be a temptation that I am not prepared to handle.

Once I determine a couple of likely problems, I ask myself, “How will I (later) wish I had handled it?” This is a powerful question because it forces me to think about how I would script the situation after it goes bad. It is accountability in advance! You would be amazed at how much easier it is to handle a crises when you have already visualized it and scripted your response!

For a detailed description of the meaning of the five terms (Observation, Strategy, See, Feel, Trust), you need to read the book, Seven Days in Utopia!

Section #6 – Scripture Memory

This final section of the daily game plan is the simplest, but also carries power. In the top section, I write the Bible verse that I am attempting to memorize for that week. In the bottom section, I write the verse I memorized from last week.

This rotates each week so I am writing each verse once a day for two weeks. I also glance at the reference during the day and attempt to repeat both of the verses aloud without looking. This may only happen once or twice during the day, but any repetition helps!

Summary

As I said before, I tried this on a half of a sheet of paper at first (8.5″ x 11″ folded), but I am now loading it onto my iPad in an app called Notes Plus. It is fully contained on the screen and I am able to easily access it throughout the day. This seems to work best for me as I am carrying my iPad everywhere I go now.

Like I said before, this is a work in progress. There may be parts of this idea that excite you and other parts that leave you saying, “Huh?” That is fine! I don’t expect you to accept it all as/is and start using it that way. My main purpose in sharing is to start the conversation – both in your mind as well as between all of us.

Take some time and think it over. Ask me questions or give me some suggestions. The only advice I will give is to be determined to keep it as simple as possible! Do not give in to the temptation to add two or three (or more) incremental improvements that end up making it too cumbersome to use.

For a blank copy of this game plan, [CLICK HERE].

What are your thoughts about the game plan?

Does it generate any ideas for you?

What additions/deletions would you suggest?

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Correcting Spiritual Drift

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In my last post, we talked about what spiritual drift looks like in a Christian business owner or leader. Assuming you have been a Christian for any length of time, you have most likely experienced this kind of drift. The question is how to correct it. What do we need to do to get back on the right path, drawing closer to God?

spiritual drift

Antidotes To Spiritual Drift

Well, as I stated in the last post, I was fortunate to hear from a guest speaker at my church recently. His name is Muche Ukegbu, youth pastor at Blueprint Church, and he gave us the following three antidotes to spiritual drift. Take a look at them and see if you think they will work for you!

#1 – Private disciplines

Private disciplines are those “blocking and tackling” basic habits that bring our hearts closer to God on a daily basis. Examples of these disciplines are Bible reading and study, prayer, and fasting. While these may not be the only examples, they are likely the most common.

The point here is that drift often comes as a result of either eroding consistency in these habits OR from a dry spell in the execution of these habits. A great way to begin attacking spiritual drift is to jump back into these habits.

Either start them up again if you have gotten away from them or change them up if they have become dry. Mix up your reading pattern. Find a new study that may help with the struggles you are currently facing. Dig back into prayer in a way that postures your heart for God to mold it.

#2 – Personal Ministry

We are each uniquely wired to do ministry as a part of the body of Christ. When we are fulfilling this role, we are closer to the One who created us for this role. When we are closer to Him, we are not suffering from spiritual drift.

Don’t forget that He formed us to serve AND we are formed when we serve. As we are allowing ourselves to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29), we will begin to get clarity again with our vision.

If you are not currently involved in some sort of personal ministry, then you need to jump in! If you are, maybe you need to mix that up a bit. Whatever the case, this is a key part of countering spiritual drift.

#3 – Providential relationships

During our lives, God brings people to us that add depth to our spiritual journey. Sometimes we are not even paying attention when this happens and other times we see the impact immediately.

When experiencing spiritual drift, the Christian business owner or leader needs to take an inventory of these types of relationships. Maybe one of these individuals is just the one we need to reach out to for the purpose of support, advice, accountability, or partnership. It just might be that they can tell you immediately what is causing your spiritual drift!

Along this line, we should always remain aware of those God is bringing into our paths. It is very possible that He is introducing someone to us that will play a key role in our spiritual development. Don’t forget that the fruit of the spirit is displayed in community, not in solitude!

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Is There Spiritual Drift in Christian Business?

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I recently heard a guest speaker at our church that did a fantastic job with his message. As I often do these days, I saw parallels between his message to the church and what we as Christian business owners and leaders need to hear. His message dealt with how individuals, and therefore churches, can experience spiritual drift and how it can be corrected. Let’s look at how this applies to us in Christian business.

spiritual drift

Spiritual Drift Is Common

First of all, Christian leaders of all kinds can experience spiritual drift. This happens when the leader slowly and imperceptibly begins to move in a direction that creates increasing distance between himself or herself and God. It is not intentional or even desired. Most often, it is not even noticed until it has already been happening for a while.

Spiritual drift is not always due to stress or strain. In fact, it may be more common during good times. It happens whether these leaders are running businesses as platforms for ministry or serving as staff members in the local church. No Christian leader is immune to spiritual drift.

Spiritual Drift In Christian Business

Now let’s determine what this drift looks like in a Christian business owner or leader. Then we will talk about three steps to correcting this drift.

As we have discussed before, a Christian business owner or leader is one that views his or her business or team from an eternal perspective. This leader understands that the business is a gift and responsibility from God to be used to create eternal returns. Simply put, the goal of a Christian business is to point people toward God and impact their eternity.

If this is the (simplified) vision of the Christian business owner or leader, then any focus that takes the business in a direction away from that vision is a symptom of spiritual drift.

Examples Of Spiritual Drift

When a Christian business owner or leader begins making decisions that are intended to increase his or her personal comfort at the expense of other employees, spiritual drift could exist. The same is true if this leader chooses strategies that do not honor God simply because competition has heated up around him.

When the Christian business leader loses touch with the needs of his or her employees or customers due to other distractions, spiritual drift is likely. Maybe it is nothing more than a loss of passion for the mission. While seemingly harmless, this issue could actually indicate significant drift.

My Experience With Spiritual Drift

The scary thing, as I mentioned earlier, is that this drift often happens without being noticed. I have experienced this myself in our business.

Over the years, I have had great intentions for all sorts of ways to minister to employees or customers. I have started mapping out the plans, but then something would come along and distract me. It did not seem like that big of a distraction at first, but then it would grow.

Various Causes

Maybe this distraction was a crisis or maybe it was an opportunity that presented itself. Either way, my mind was taken off of the ministry focus. Not a huge deal, but it would certainly delay my progress, right?

Well, if you combine this distraction with a weak quiet time streak or some other spiritual weakness, the impact can be greater than you might imagine. In fact, I have looked up several months later only to realize my ministry plans are sitting on the shelf gathering dust.

Does any of this ring a bell?

What To Do About It?

So, assuming we have all experienced this kind of drift at one time or another, what do we do about it? Is it even critical that we address it or should we accept it as part of life? Will our path eventually turn back toward God on its own? Is there any real danger in this kind of drift?

I would like to know your thoughts on these questions. Submit your comments below and let me know your take on all of this.

In my next post, I will give you three steps to correcting the drift. Stay tuned!

Have you experienced this spiritual drift?

Did it sneak up on you or did you see it coming?

What did you do about it?

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EntreLeadership: Free 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]

entreleadership

A Free Book Give Away?

You read that right! I am doing my first give-away on this blog. And to start things off, I am offering a free copy of Dave Ramsey’s latest book, EntreLeadership! If you have not read this book, you are in for a treat. Even if you have, you need to give a copy away to someone else you that needs to read it.

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 EntreLeadership 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- EntreLeadership

When you started your business, did anyone teach you how to invest in your team? How to delegate so you could grow your company beyond you? Who taught you how to find the perfect hire or let people who weren’t a fit go with dignity? Leaders need answers to questions they don’t even know to ask. EntreLeadership provides the answers…and it does it from a Christian point of view!

Enter The Give Away

Follow the instructions below and then spread the word to others!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Apostle Paul And Marketplace Ministry, Part 3

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In my last two posts, we have been looking at an example of marketplace ministry from the life of the Apostle Paul. I showed you how the Apostle Paul set an example for us in the marketplace of Athens. I also reviewed the first two steps in Paul’s 4 step process of sharing the gospel in the marketplace. In today’s post, I want to break down the last two steps of this four-step marketplace ministry method and how we can apply it in our current-day Christian business settings.

marketplace ministry

Paul’s Marketplace Ministry In Acts

As a refresher, please take another moment to read the passage – Acts 17:16-34. As a reminder, here are the first two steps from last post:

Step #1 – Be observant and sensitive to your surroundings.

Step #2 – Listen to what they say.

Now let’s move on to the final two steps…

Step #3 – Use their language to communicate your message.

Paul – If you remember back in Step #1, Paul had observed an altar “To An Unknown God.” While this may seem silly to us, it was obviously important to his audience. Rather than mocking them for their rampant idol worship, Paul used that very altar to lead into his discussion on the one, true God.

He went on in his message and talked about how God is not one dwells in temples built by human hands. As a society worshipping many gods, they were very familiar with temples and had many scattered around Athens. Finally, Paul even mentioned (and quoted) their own poets.

Application – We are called by God to be separate and different than the society in which we live. At the same time, we should follow Paul’s example and be familiar enough with the “language” of this society that we can carry on meaningful conversations. Too often, we act like we cannot even associate with “those people” that we see as sinners and non-believers.

If you read about Jesus’ ministry here on earth, you will quickly see that “those people” are the very ones with which he associated. We are to do the same, talking to them in ways they understand, not in “churchy” language that confuses them.

Step #4 – Tell them the simple truth.

Paul – Paul observed their surroundings, listened to what they had to say, and tailored his message to their language. What he did not do is water down the gospel message. He did not skip over the resurrection because it might “offend” or cause them to ridicule him. He did not acknowledge their beliefs as another option for salvation.

In his marketplace ministry, Paul stuck to the simple truth of the gospel message. He did not swerve from it to the right or the left. The results? Some sneered and others mocked him. But still others came to believe and followed him to learn more.

Application – There is so much pressure today to show tolerance for other religious views. Christians are ridiculed for believing that Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father. As a result, many Christians (even some pastors!) retreat from this message and water down the gospel. I think this is simply a tragedy.

Our responsibility is not to modify or reduce the gospel message to one that is more easily swallowed by a stiff-necked crowd. We DO need to present it in a way that is understandable by the crowd. Otherwise, we may as well leave it written in Latin. But to go beyond this and CHANGE the message itself is not acceptable.

Stick with the simple truth and God will honor your efforts. Even if you are another Jeremiah without a single convert, you cannot lose heart. Only the Holy Spirit can do the work in their hearts. Our job is to cast the seed. The rest is up to Him!

Do you see how you can engage in marketplace ministry?

What does it look like in your situation?

What obstacles are holding you back?

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Automotive Super Conference Coming Soon!

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Typically, I do not have much advertising on this blog. At the same time, one of my stated goals is to provide resources for anyone interested in using their businesses for an eternal impact. I believe the Automotive Super Conference is this type of resource.

Automotive Super Conference

Automotive Super Conference

For that reason, I want to bring this upcoming conference to your attention. The conference is going to be held in Charlotte, NC at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on March 13-14, 2013.

You can read more by clicking on the banner above, but the Automotive Super Conference is targeted toward auto dealers and their employees. It will be themed around Dave Anderson’s How to Run Your Business by THE BOOK, which I have used for some posts here in this blog. In fact, Dave Anderson will be the keynote speaker as well!

I Am Excited!

I am really excited about this conference for several reasons.

First, I have never heard of a Christian conference in the car business. These just don’t happen in our industry. If it has happened before, then I missed it.

Numerous Benefits!

The obvious benefits are numerous. There will be Bible-based teaching with direct application in every department in a typical dealership. There will be 14 different workshops covering many topics – all centered around the Bible. That is really cool!

In addition to the workshops, there will be sharing of best practices and fresh ideas coming from various panel discussion sessions as well as the breaks and meals in between. This is often where the best learning happens for me. There is no doubt I will come away having learned something.

It is also going to be inspiring to see that none of us are alone in our efforts. Being able to see hundreds of other dealers and industry leaders gathered in one place to learn more about how to honor God with their businesses – that will be awesome! I can’t wait!

My First Workshop!

Finally, I am excited about the Automotive Super Conference because I have been given the opportunity to present one of the workshops! I have not finalized my topic yet, but you know it will be along the same lines as the blog. As soon as I finalize the topic, I will give you a sneak preview!

Spread The Word

My request to you is that you help me spread the word. Tell anyone you think might be interested about this conference and send them to the site to learn more. Like I said, you can click on the banner above or the link below. You can also copy the link and paste it into your emails, tweets, etc.

While the theme of the conference is Bible-based, everyone is welcome. Maybe someone seeking a faith will come to know Jesus because they attended! Who knows what God has planned?!?!

http://automotivesuperconference.com

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Apostle Paul And Marketplace Ministry, Part 2

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In my last post, I showed you an example of how the origin of marketplace ministry dates back to the days of the early church. I showed you how the Apostle Paul set an example for us in the marketplace of Athens. In today’s post, I want to break down the first two steps of the four-step method Paul used and how we can apply it in our current-day Christian business settings.

marketplace ministry

Marketplace Ministry In Acts

To catch up, please take another moment to read the passage – Acts 17:16-34. If you take time to study exactly what Paul did and said, I think you will come up with a fairly simple 4-step process for marketplace ministry.

Let’s dive right in.

Step #1 – Be observant and sensitive to your surroundings.

Paul – Take a look at verse 16 first. Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. Was he frustrated at the delay? Did he pass the time focused on that frustration? No, instead he was paying attention to his surroundings and noticed all of the idols in Athens.

Jump to verses 22-23. Paul is speaking to the marketplace people and mentions that he has noticed they are religious. Not only that, but he also noticed an altar “To An Unknown God.” Some of us may have seen this and chuckled at the senselessness of such an altar. Paul saw an opportunity for marketplace ministry!

Application – Today, we have business going on all around us and there are plenty of opportunities for similar observations. If we pray for wisdom and discernment, God will respond and answer that prayer.

I encourage you to slow down, pray, and start noticing the tell-tale signs around you. These will give you clues on how to share the gospel where you are.

Step #2 – Listen to what they say.

Paul – When Paul first started teaching the message of the gospel in the marketplace, he elicited a response from the crowd. Some called him a babbler and others thought his teaching was strange. Surely Paul heard these comments from the crowd. Likely, he was at least mildly bothered by them.

But rather than react to the responses, he listened. He heard that they were interested in “new teachings” and were actually, for the most part, just curious. By listening to their comments and questions, he learned about how they thought.

Combined with what he had already observed (Step #1), he came up with a terrific strategy for sharing the gospel in a way that would fit the crowd!

Application – We have the same opportunity for marketplace ministry today if we will only slow down and listen. Too often, in an environment of political correctness and a lack of tolerance for Christian views, we react with anger or frustration when questioned. Unlike Paul, we fail to set our emotions aside and think strategically.

Again, we need to pray for God to teach us how to do this. It does not come naturally so we cannot expect to get it on our own. Instead, we need to pray, practice, and trust God to make up the difference!

In my next post, I will address the final two parts of Paul’s process for marketplace ministry. Hopefully, you will be able to take these four steps and apply them to your business opportunities.

What observations have you made that allowed you to share the gospel?

Are you being intentionally observant, listening to those around you?

Do you typically react to criticism or thoughtfully respond to it?

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Apostle Paul And Marketplace Ministry

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For the past nine years, I have been attempting to run our business from an eternal perspective – effectively using it as a platform for Christian ministry. Unfortunately, this is not very common and therefore I often find myself explaining exactly what I mean by marketplace ministry. Today, in an effort to shed more light on this, I want to take a look at an example of marketplace ministry in the life of the Apostle Paul.

marketplace ministry

Paul The Tentmaker

We know from Acts 18:3 that Paul was a tentmaker by trade. We don’t necessarily know how much of his time was spent making tents versus doing ministry, but it is clear that tent making was his occupation. The following verse refers to Paul coming to stay with Aquila and Priscilla.

Paul came to them, and being of the same occupation, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
Acts 18:3

Because we don’t necessarily know how much time Paul spent making tents, I am not going to attempt to draw an exact parallel between Paul’s ministry and a current-day Christian business. That is not the point of this post at all.

Marketplace Ministry

Instead, I simply want to broaden your understanding and awareness of the existence of (and need for) marketplace ministry – dating all the way back to the days of early church. Then I want to give you some simple tips, based on Paul’s example, for following Paul’s example in your business today.

First, let’s take a look at another passage in Acts, only one chapter before the verse mentioned above. This passage is too long to include in this post, so I will ask you to take a moment and CLICK HERE to read Acts 17:16-34. It will only take you a minute!

Paul Was Troubled

What is the first thing you read about Paul’s mindset in verse 16? It says his spirit was troubled or that he was greatly distressed. His problem was the rampant worship of idols in Athens. I am not sure what exactly brought this to his attention or whether it was related to his tent making. It really is not important.

The point of this is that Paul’s spirit was troubled at the worship of idols in Athens and so he went into the marketplace everyday to reason with those who were there. Don’t you think Paul would feel the same way today if he witnessed our marketplaces? Don’t you think his spirit would be troubled?

Are You Troubled?

If so, is yours? Paul told us to follow his example as he followed the example of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). If this is indeed what we should be doing, don’t you think our spirits should be troubled as well by the worship of idols in our marketplaces? Shouldn’t we be distressed?

Let’s assume for the moment that you agree with me on this and your spirit IS troubled.

What next?

What are you to do about it?

Paul And Marketplace Ministry

Well, those are good questions. For the answer, let’s take a look at what Paul did. Going back to the passage from Acts 17, we see in verses 17-18 that Paul did not just sit still when his spirit became troubled. Instead he went right to the people (some in the synagogue, some in the marketplace) and met them where they were.

It is certainly possible that he did this by turning his tent-making business into a marketplace ministry. Unfortunately, there is not enough detail in this passage to determine whether or not that is true. All we do know is that he did put himself in the middle of the marketplace and began sharing the simple message of the gospel.

Initial Response

The initial response to what Paul was saying was curiosity. The people told him that they wanted to hear more about this “new teaching” he was proclaiming. As a result, Paul was given the opportunity to talk to the very leaders and authorities in the marketplace (the Areopagus).

Results?

What were the results?

Well, some sneered and mocked him. They were not interested in what he had to say and they made it clear with their response. Others, however, believed him and began to follow Paul to learn more.

They Need What We Have

Folks, when you break it down, it is really this simple. The majority of the people in the marketplace today need the message that we have. They need to know the truth and we have it! All that remains is for us to begin going into the marketplace and sharing this message.

Different Methods, Same Ministry

This will look different for some than it will for others. We all have different opportunities and skills for entering marketplace ministry. God has determined this according to His will and we are only charged with following His lead. I encourage you to begin praying about how He can use YOU in this effort.

In my next post, we are going to break down Paul’s actual 4-step method from this passage and try to apply it to our current day marketplace ministry opportunities.

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How To Create A Life Plan Dashboard

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This is the third post in a series on life planning. In this series, I am sharing with you the basics of a life plan and why you need one by going through the details of my own LIFE planning process. Neither my plan nor my process are perfect. In fact, they are evolving from year to year. My hope is that you can take what I do (or even just parts of it) and use it to create your own plan.

life plan

LIFE Plan Document

In my last post, I gave you a detailed description and break-down of my main LIFE Plan document. I described my Roles, Focus Areas, and Goals. I gave you a couple of samples from these areas. I also gave you access to download my [Title Page Summary] and [Godly Father Role].

As you can probably guess, combining all of these pieces into a complete document makes for a long document. The length of the document made it difficult to quickly review it on a regular basis. While I considered cutting it down, I just could not figure out which parts to eliminate.

Dashboard as Summary

So, as a result, I decided I needed a “dashboard” of sorts. With a one-page summary, I felt I could use this document in a weekly review process. I used a compilation of several resources I had found (and created a spreadsheet that would represent the month to month living out of my LIFE Plan. This Dashboard is made up of many sections, or “Gauges”, that help me keep my overall LIFE plan at the forefront of my mind.

Roles, Focuses, and Goals Gauges

For the first section, I started with the eight roles and laid out the sheet in a way that would allow me to see all eight Roles and the corresponding Focus Areas. Then, I left three blanks under each Role for monthly Goals. Each month, I update my monthly Goals, leaving the Roles and Focus Areas the same throughout the year.

Take a look at the picture below to get an idea of what I mean. (Note the Roles and Focus Areas have changed…this is part of my dashboard from December 2010)

life plan

Remaining Sections

As I have said several times, this whole process has evolved over time for me. You may want to stop right there and let your dashboard include only your Roles, Focuses, and Goals Guages. I started here, but have since added to mine. I will share the rest of my Dashboard with you and let you decide if any of it is interesting to you.

Strengths Gauges

In his book Now, Discover Your Strengths, Marcus Buckingham describes how working on your strengths is the best strategy. At the end of the book, you take a test and are told your top strengths. I really found the material to be enlightening and began determining how I could apply it to my life.

In a sequel to Buckingham’s book, StrengthsFinder 2.0, author Tom Rath details out a list of 10 strategies for developing each strength described. I picked the top two or three of those actions for each of my top four strengths and put them on my dashboard.

Take a look at this picture to see how this looks.

life plan

Final Gauges

Across the bottom of the LIFE plan Dashboard, I added four more sections based on what I felt was most important to review regularly. You may substitute your own categories here, but I included the following:

1. Prayer Focus – a listing of various ongoing areas in which I focused my prayer
2. Reading/Listening Plan – a list of the books and audio for that month
3. 360 Assessment – my top ten concern areas from a 360 degree assessment of me
4. Scripture – a list of references to the 15-20 verses I am trying to memorize

Here is a visual of these gauges.

life plan

Closing Quote

To close out the bottom of my LIFE Plan Dashboard, I wanted something to keep me focused on the big picture. I learned in my C12 group that I should always be ready with a conversation-starting response to the question, “What do you do for a living?” I used this answer to close out my dashboard.

I work for an unusual company. It is an car dealership group that is a Christian company. We are trying to learn, and to show, how Jesus would run a company if He were the boss.

That’s It!

So, there it is! That is my LIFE Plan Dashboard, in all its glory! If you want to see the entire document together, just [Click Here].

Some of you are thinking I am crazy and others are thinking I am weak. That is fine! I can handle it!

Regardless of what you are thinking, I encourage you to do something similar. I will go into more detail about how I use this Dashboard in my final post in this series, but for now, I urge you to think about what you could create that would be easy to review on a weekly basis. Keeping your life plan in front of you in some shape or form will keep you closer to the path God has revealed to you.

What is your reaction to this dashboard?

Do you see how you could benefit from a weekly review of your life plan?

What do you see to be your next step in the life planning process?

Originally posted 1/26/12