Ministering from the Overflow

For people committed to such concepts as fairness and justice, God’s grace is beyond “amazing.” As those adopted by God and eternally viewed as righteous solely through our faith in Christ, we must constantly remind ourselves of the indescribable and undeserved nature of this free gift. Our crucified and risen Lord lived perfectly, and died, that we might escape sin’s hold and the law’s...

A Word of Encouragement

I have some good news for you today! God isn’t participating in the recession! And He won’t be needing a stimulus package or bailout, either! These tumultuous days may be the greatest season of our lives… the most fruitful that we have ever known! It will all depend on how we perceive them. It’s been said that “The circumstances of life don’t make me who I am; they reveal whose I...

Anxiety or Contentment? What’s Your Choice?

2009 has been an unusually challenging year for many.  Along with a severe, sustained recession, there has been unprecedented political, social and spiritual upheaval across America. In spite of these issues, our God reigns! Let’s take this well-deserved pause from the action to take a deep breath and deeply consider before God how we’re doing in ordering our priorities and tending to His...

Bringing News of Great Joy

In C12 we often speak of ‘spiritual value added’ related to sharing the love of Christ through acts of service, sanctification and salvation. As we approach Christmas, with our calendars full of events and family gatherings, it’s vital to remember the amazing opportunity we have to faithfully and intentionally share Christ’s Gospel of grace and produce Kingdom fruit. It’s been said...

Growing Your Business-A Five Point Approach to Branding

A Five-Point Approach to Branding 1. Defining your Dominant Selling Idea (DSI) Our DSI is a unifying, energizing, focusing, trust-building, clutter-removing, lean-value-creating notion – a motivating difference at the moment of the purchase decision – that communicates our #1 position in a ‘desirable specialty’ that’s important to our target customers. That’s a mouthful, but unless...

Ending Working Relationships in Christ’s Love

One of a leader’s toughest tasks is releasing team members, whether due to poor performance, economic conditions, or a major breach of trust. No ‘normal’ person enjoys the termination process. Most of us suffer from being too slow in making these difficult decisions, rather than being too quick, and will readily admit that this is one of the most distasteful aspects of exercising our...

Wise Counsel

  Solomon is widely considered to be the wisest man who ever lived, although his decisions to have multiple wives and scores of concubines may make us wonder. Nevertheless, he is thought to have authored most of the book of Proverbs, which contains a rich store of godly wisdom for practical living.    Throughout Proverbs there are many themes which are repeated for emphasis and presented in...

Am I a Pharisaical Leader?

Dictionaries define “pharisaical” as hypocritically self-righteous, condemnatory, excessively pious, holier-than-thou, sanctimonious, phony or two-faced. In essence, we can be viewed as pharisaical whenever we claim or pretend to be one thing, but are seen as imperfectly carrying it off (can I get an “Amen”?!). When we strongly proclaim one value system, yet are frequently viewed as...