Daniel 9:2 (NLT)
^“During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years.”

It’s a powerful insight to remember that even Daniel depended upon the reading of God’s word.  For you might think that a prophet who interpreted dreams, instructed kings, and spoke with angels may have no need to regularly read the scriptures.  And yet here he is, taking the time to read “the word of the Lord”.  God had instructed Jeremiah to write these words just a short time earlier.  It begs the question, How important are the scriptures for your life?     God commanded to write them and the prophets were diligent to read them.  This should give us a clue!  How devoted are you to reading God’s words?  Can I encourage you to follow Daniel’s lead?  You won’t be disappointed!   I pray you have a great week and enjoy the ministry that God brings your way.

P.S.: For your continued encouragement and training we will include below articles on “leadership” from various authors that we hope will encourage and strengthen you in ministry.  God bless you!

-Shane

How do I maintain a teachable attitude?

By John C Maxwell

Teachability is not so much about competence and mental capacity as it is about attitude. It is the desire to listen, learn, and apply. It is the hunger to discover and grow. It is the willingness to learn, unlearn, and relearn. I love the way legendary basketball coach John Wooden states it: “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

When I teach and mentor leaders, I remind them that if they stop learning, they stop leading. But if they remain teachable and keep learning, they will be able to keep making an impact as leaders. Whatever your talent happens to be – whether it’s leadership, craftsmanship, entrepreneurship, or something else – you will expand it if you keep expecting and striving to learn.

Futurist and author John Naisbitt believes that “the most important skill to acquire is learning how to learn.” Here is what I suggest as you pursue teachability:

1. Learn to listen.

American writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote, “It takes two to speak the truth – one to speak and one to hear.” Being a good listener helps us to know people better, to learn what they have learned, and to show them that we value them as individuals.

As you go through each day, remember that you can’t learn if you’re always talking. As the old saying goes, “There’s a reason you have one mouth and two ears.” Listen to others and remain humble, and you will learn things that can help you expand your talent.

2. Understand the learning process.

Here’s how learning typically works:

STEP 1: Act.

STEP 2: Look for your mistakes and evaluate.

STEP 3: Search for a way to do it better.

STEP 4: Go back to Step 1.

Remember, the greatest enemy of learning is knowing. And the goal of all learning is action, not knowledge. If what you are doing does not in some way contribute to what you or others are learning in life, then question its value and be prepared to make changes.

3. Look for and plan teachable moments.

If you look for opportunities to learn in every situation, you will expand your talent to its potential. But you can also take another step beyond this and actively seek out and plan teachable moments. You do that by reading books, visiting places that inspire you, attending events that prompt you to pursue change, and spending time with people who stretch you and expose you to new experiences.

4. Make your teachable moments count.

Even people who are strategic about seeking teachable moments can miss the whole point of the experience. I say this because for many years I’ve been a speaker at conferences and workshops – events that are designed to help people learn. But I’ve found that many people walk away from an event and do very little with what they heard.

We tend to focus on learning events instead of the learning process. Because of this, I try to help people take action steps that will help them implement what they learn. I suggest that in their notes, they pay special attention to…

Points they need to think about

Changes they need to make

Lessons they need to apply

Information that they need to share

Then after the conference, I recommend that they create to-do lists based on what they took note of, then schedule time to follow through.

5. Ask yourself, “Am I really teachable?”

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: all the good advice in the world won’t help if you don’t have a teachable spirit. To know whether you are really open to new ideas and new ways of doing things, ask yourself the following questions:

Am I open to other people’s ideas?

Do I listen more than I talk?

Am I open to changing my opinion based on new information?

Do I readily admit when I am wrong?

Do I observe before acting on a situation?

Do I ask questions?

Am I willing to ask a question that will expose my ignorance?

Am I open to doing things in a way I haven’t done before?

Am I willing to ask for directions?

Do I act defensive when criticized, or do I listen openly for truth?

If you answered no to one or more of these questions, then you have room to grow in the area of teachability. You need to soften your attitude, learn humility, and remember the words of John Wooden: “Everything we know we learned from someone else!”

Psalm 107:1, 8-9 (NIV) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  Let the redeemed of the Lord say this… let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

One of the best ways to start the year is to remember the goodness of the Lord; reflecting on His faithfulness, musing on His justice, and revering Him for His righteousness.   The Lord is good; “let the redeemed of the Lord say this”.

Sometimes in the quietness of the morning I’ll extend my hands to the Lord and verbally acknowledge the wonders of His character or the tenderness of His heart.  When I don’t know what else to pray and find myself lost for the right words, giving thanks is my instinctive response.  You see, I am so thankful that through Jesus, God has saved my soul and refreshed my heart.  I’m so thankful that He loves me in spite of me, He forgives me but also cleanses me, He frees me but also disciplines me.  I have much to be thankful for! Now, I’m not talking about “feel-good religion”. The Psalmist doesn’t encourage great thanks because life is always easy. Not even close! Having read this Psalm just recently I remember that sandwiched in between the verses above, the writer recalls that “some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away” (Verse 4-5).   The Bible is nothing if not honest!  Even so, the writer enthusiastically gives God praise for His “unfailing love” and “wonderful deeds”.  He says God “satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things”.   How can this be? Is it denial? Is it dementia? I don’t think so. But it is dependence. Why?  Because great thanks flows out of great trust!  You see, if I don’t trust the Lord I’ll never acknowledge Him for anything good that comes into my life. I’ll think it’s all because of me.   I’ll thank myself for the good and blame God for the bad. But trust tells me everything I have is a gift from God and for God. My trust reminds me that when I’ve “wandered in desert wastelands”, gone “hungry and thirsty” and felt my life “ebbed away” that God is still good. This too is the reflection of God’s “unfailing love” doing “wonderful deeds for men. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this”! I encourage you this week to begin the practice of giving thanks to God for who He is and trust Him and ALL that He does.  God bless you as you lead others to know God’s wonderful grace!

Shane

Matthew 1:18-19 (NIV)
¹⁸ This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Can you imagine the plans that a man like Joseph must have had?  The scripture reads, “Mary was pledged to be” his.  I can see this young stallion, just starting out with a certain expectation of potential and promise…maybe even a little prosperity?  Now, of course, the bible doesn’t tell us too much.  Only that he was a “righteous man”, which means he lived to a particular standard or quality before God.  He probably had great vision for his future family.  However, just when you thought it was “safe to go in the water” Matthew uses one of the most disappointing words of all time.  Can you see it there?  “Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but”. It’s not quite a four letter word, yet we hate it all the same; maybe even more.  You see “but” is one of those words that usually precipitates looming disappointment.  It reminds me of the first time I asked a girl to go to the school dance.  “I’d like to go with you” she said.  “but…” It almost didn’t even matter what came next, “but” said it all.  Now, this is where we find Joseph.  Plans interrupted and expectations blown, this is a man struggling to make sense of what just happened.  Have you been there when things don’t work out the way you’d hoped; the burden of unfulfilled expectations?  I think it was John Lennon who said that, “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.  For example, if you’re single, did you want to be?  If you’re married, is this the marriage you hoped for?  Do you long to have children but you haven’t been able to?  If you have children, are they living the lives you always hoped? Are you working a job you’ve always wanted to?  Are you working at all?  Well, if you can relate to any of this, you’re in good company.  Such is the reality for most of the heroes we read about in the scriptures.  Joseph was no exception. Joseph might have been content to lead an ordinary life.  All he wanted for Christmas was a wife.  But God wanted the extraordinary!  You see, God’s plan is always bigger, grander, meatier, more fulfilling, more rewarding, more inspiring, more gratifying and far more fulfilling than anything we’ve come up with on our own.  You see, this is the story, at least in part, about God’s work in the heart of a man to EXPECT more than he’s EXPECTED, to DREAM more than he’s DREAMED, and to DESIRE more than he’s DESIRED.  And like Joseph, God hasn’t stopped dreaming dreams for you!  God says to his people, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT).  Do you believe it?  Will you trust it?  Can you engage it?  I pray you will!  Your life is God’s dream in the making!  Your future is before you!  You are participating in a much grander plan!  Embrace it and enjoy the ride.

God bless you!

Shane

Psalm 34:18 (CEV) “The Lord is there to rescue all who are discouraged and have given up hope.”

A school teacher who visits children in a large city hospital received a routine call requesting that she visit a young boy.  The teacher took the boy’s name and room number and went.  However, it wasn’t until she got to the boy’s room that she noticed it was in the hospital’s burn unit. You see, no one had prepared her to find a young boy horribly burned and in severe pain.  She awkwardly announced, “I’m a teacher, and I’m here to help you with nouns and adverbs.”  This boy was in so much pain that he barely responded. The young teacher stumbled through his English lesson, ashamed at putting him through such a senseless exercise.  The next morning a nurse on the burn unit asked her, “What did you do to that boy?” Before the teacher could finish her outburst of apologies, the nurse interrupted her, “You don’t understand, we’ve been very worried about him. But ever since you were here yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s fighting back; he’s responding to treatment. It’s as if he has decided to live.”

The boy would later explain that he had completely given up hope until he saw the teacher. It was then that he came to a simple realization. He said, “They wouldn’t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a boy who was dying, would they?”   This reminds us of what is possible whenever there is hope.   It was Christopher Reeve who said, “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.”

So let me ask you, how is hope working in your life?  Are you filled up or fizzled out?  Discouraged?  Defeated?  Can I give you some friendly advice?  Don’t give up, just look up!  God wants to fill your life with the hope of what’s possible!  David understood the need to turn to the Lord for hope.  Even while in the greatest discouragement of his life, David knew; it’s God who does the rescuing.  Can you trust Him to rescue you?  I’m reminded of how David would later sing thanks to the Lord, “Thank you! Everything in me says, ‘Thank you!’ Angels listen as I sing my thanks. I kneel in worship facing your holy temple and say it again: ‘Thank you!’ Thank you for your love, thank you for your faithfulness; most holy is your name, most holy is your Word.  The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength.” Psalm 138:1-3 (MSG).  Put your hope in the Lord and watch as your life overflows with great thanksgiving!  “The Lord is there to rescue all who are discouraged and have given up hope.” Amen!

God bless you!

Shane

Psalm 51:17 (ESV)
¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

A well known pastor in the twentieth century, Harry Ironside, moved up the Salvation Army ranks from cadet to captain in three short years.  He was a success story by anyone’s standards; poster boy for Christian ministry & service. Behind the scenes though, Harry was tormented with the thought that he was too sinful and might lose his salvation.  You see, he heard sensational stories from people who claimed that they had attained holiness, their lives totally free from sin. For that reason, he thought that he also must reach a place where he was beyond sin.  Harry prayed and pursued a sinless lifestyle.  He worked hard to deprive himself of even the simplest pleasures, convinced that he was making his place in heaven more secure. Unfortunately, the holiness that Harry sought eluded him and under the strain of his pursuit for perfection, he collapsed in exhaustion.  Harry checked into a rest home.  He was 19 years old.  You see, Harry learned about God early but it took a physical and emotional breakdown to make him realize that Jesus does the saving, not us.  In fact, it is only after he discovered this that his real ministry began, resulting in 50 years of powerful preaching, teaching, and writing that included 34 expository books covering the entire Bible.  Now, if I can meddle in your life for a minute; does your security before God rest on your personal performance?  Are you insecure about your eternity?  If so, let me remind you.  Man cannot earn God’s favor or blessing.  Your place before God was signed, sealed, and delivered on the cross where Jesus suffered and died.  It is because of Jesus’ death that God loves you unconditionally! His love cannot be bought or sold, won or lost.  Your response is to trust Him.  Your response is to believe that what Jesus did on the cross is big enough, effective enough, sufficient enough, and strong enough to secure you before God.   Paul said, ^“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14 (ESV). You see friends, it’s all about Jesus.  It’s all for his glory.  No one will be able to stand before God and say they did it in their own strength and by the sweat of their own brow. No, the Scripture reminds us that we are broken and dependent on Jesus. This, God will not despise.  Guaranteed!

God bless you this week

Shane

Learning and Growing

Titus 3:14 (ESV)

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

Doing the right thing doesn’t always come naturally and it isn’t always easy.  Sometimes our first inclination is to pull back when we should press forward.  Jesus said, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” John 15:8 (ESV).  This is where Paul’s encouragement to Titus should give you comfort; God’s people “learn to devote themselves to good works.”  In other words, you can be taught.  Your failures today are your lessons for tomorrow.

You see, to “bear fruit” is to grow with tomorrow’s possibilities.  And so, for example, when I get discouraged because I haven’t lived up to my potential, I remember that I’m a work in progress.  I’m not a finished product.  My “good works” today or lack thereof is not the sum total of my life!  God wants me to explore the possibilities of tomorrow and learn to devote myself to good works.  Don’t give in to the deceptive message of decline and lethargy that would try and convince you there is no hope.  Paul said, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way.” Philippians 3:13-15.  These are good words of encouragement for everyone of us!

I pray that this week, you would ask yourself, “Where are the opportunities and possibilities for my growth that I can work on tomorrow?  Can I become more loving toward others?  Can I become less judgmental or critical?”  Commit yourself to learning how to devote yourself to these things and through them become the person that God has made you to be.

God bless you.

Shane

Ephesians 5:3 (ESV)
³ But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

Our morality matters!  There’s no doubt about it.  First, how you behave morally is a reflection on Jesus.  Second, bad moral behavior can be an infection on your life & ministry.  For example, Proverbs 6:32 reminds us, “Whoever commits adultery with a woman…destroys his own soul.” The word soul here is “Nepesh” in Hebrew.  It means the inner self, including thinking, feeling, willing & desiring.  In other words, the part of you that makes you, you!  Friends, the world doesn’t understand this. They think that sexual sin is a personal matter.  It’s nothing more than two bodies coming together in a moment of ecstasy or it’s a private choice without consequences. But that’s not what God says.  God says that sex is actually two souls being joined as one. For you see, in Genesis, we read that God called both Adam and Eve “Adam” because in the marriage relationship, two people really do become one. Physical intimacy results in the merging of both these souls. That is why sex outside of marriage is so destructive. When each person inevitably goes his way, something is irretrievably lost because each person walks away with a part of the other. And so comes the warning, sexual impurity “destroys the soul”.   By the way, that’s the real tragedy of sexual sin; the problem is not STD’s, unwanted pregnancy, reputation, or guilt. The problem according to Proverbs is of losing one’s soul.  That’s why Jesus gives some good advice about sexual sin.  He said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. Matthew 5:29-30.  In other words, do what you have to do so that you don’t lose yourself to sexual sin.  Friends, God has so much planned for you; more than you can imagine or dream.  Pay attention to your life!  Walk in the grace of God and the empowerment of his Holy Spirit to conform you to his image.

Enjoy your ministry this week!

P.S.  If there is anyone struggling in this area and needs help, I can be reached at 274-8427.  Make the choice to make it right!

Shane

Ephesians 3:7-9 (ESV)
⁷ Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power.  ⁸ To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.

Paul declares that he was “made a minister” not because he was Judaism’s golden boy, not because he belonged to God’s Fortune 500, not even because he was more able or capable.   The means of Paul’s ministry was singular.  It was grace.  He writes, “to me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given”.  You see, Paul understood, as we should, that he ministered not because he deserved it and certainly not because he had earned it, but because of the wonderful grace of God given to him by the working of God’s own power.

Friends, the closer we get to the Lord, the more we realize how insufficient we are to get close to the Lord.  The closer we get, the more we see the sin in our lives that might have previously gone unnoticed.  Notice that the closer Paul walked with the Lord, the more astonished he became that God would use him in ministry.   For example, he writes in 1 Corinthians 15:9, “For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” or 1 Timothy 1:15, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This saying is true, and it can be trusted. I was the worst sinner of all!” Are you beginning to see a pattern? Paul the Apostle, whose resume reads, “least of all the saints”, “least of the apostles”, “the worst sinner of all”, “unworthy to be called an apostle”.  He says, “I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace”.

Be encouraged and reflective this week!  God makes you a minister by the “working of his power”.  Draw close to the Lord this week.  Allow him to convict you, cleanse you, refresh you and empower you for his good work to “bring to light for everyone”.  Gang, God loves you and is going to change lives through you as you center yourself on Him.

God bless you this week!

Shane

Ephesians 1:1-6 (ESV)
¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: ² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Paul writes to the church whom he calls “saints”.  Of course, this isn’t because they were so “saintly”, rather, they were secure.  You see the church in Ephesus, like all others, needed to work out the kinks and wrinkles.  We know this because later in this same letter Paul reminds them to “no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds… dark and in their understanding, alienated from the life of God” (4:17-18).  Or similarly in the book of Revelations, chapter 2, Jesus himself writes to this same church a word of warning and concern about what motivates their behaviors.

And yet, for all their difficulties, there’s no doubt about the favor that God has for them.  For example, notice the language, “faithful”, “blessed with every spiritual blessing”, “chose us”, “holy and blameless”, “predestined”, “adoption as sons”.  Does it get any better?

It begs the question, how can this be? How can God accept, love and demonstrate such great favor, to a people so marred with imperfection?

Well, if I’m honest, it’s the same question I ask about myself. How can God accept me?  I am so riddled with doubt and stained with sin.  I struggle with the simplest things.  The truth is I have trouble accepting myself, let alone knowing and believing that a holy God does.

And then the answer comes.  Ringing true in my heart and speaking peace to my soul, two simple words, “in Christ”.  In fact, if you reread these six verses you’ll see that four times we are reminded that we don’t stand alone or stand apart.  We are “in Christ”.  This means that everything that God sees is “in Christ”. You see, the real struggle is not earning God’s favor or performing that he would love me. Rather, it’s conforming to what he already sees me to be!  You’ve heard the term “rose colored glasses”? Gods are blood-stained!  We are in Christ Everything I do, everything I am, everything I will ever be or achieve will be measured “in Christ”.

Leader, be encouraged this week! Stop measuring yourself against the mediocrity of your own performance and certainly don’t get caught in the trap of believing you’re doing it independently of Jesus.  Jesus said, “as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” John 15:4.  We are “in Christ” as he put it “to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved“.

God bless you.

Shane

Isaiah 10:15 ESV

Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?  As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!

Where do we get the power for effectiveness in ministry?  Jesus knew.  You might remember when Jesus walked the dusty road from Galilee toward the Jordan intent upon being baptized by John.  The scripture reads, “John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented and when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:14-17 (ESV).  Now gang, John was not wrong about Jesus.  Jesus truly had all the right to be the baptizer, not the baptizee.  But even Jesus depended on someone didn’t he?  He looked to The Father.   He knew that apart from the Father his effectiveness would be squashed.  Perhaps this is the message God was trying to convey to the nation of Assyria when he prompts the prophet to ask, “Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?  As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! You see, Assyria is a mere tool in the hand of God as are we.  Friends, God is always pleased with humility and dependence!  This is what Jesus himself was commended for!  So let me ask it again.  Where does the power for effectiveness in ministry come?  How about effectiveness as a husband, wife, friend, father or mother?  Jesus knows.  And so, for that reason, Jesus humbled himself not just before the Father but also before John.  He said, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting.” And he was baptized as a sign of dependence to Him who truly gives all the power for every good thing.  And God said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”   Amen.

Shane