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...

Marketing Demystified

 Marketing Demystified  “If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying “Circus coming to the Fairground Saturday,” that’s advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that’s promotion. If the elephant walks through the mayor’s flower bed, that’s publicity. And if you get the mayor to laugh about it,...

Integrity – I’ve got it! Or do I?

Practically speaking, integrity means that we live without obvious contradiction between what we say we believe and what we actually do. There’s an observable consistency about them, linking their words to their actions. A common slang expression for people with integrity is that they “walk their talk,” meaning that what they say and do are consistent. A ‘high integrity’ person lives...

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...

Seizing the Moment

Here we are, in the middle of an extended recession, hunkered down and unsure as to when the pressure will let up. Many of us are praying for restored demand and a healthy backlog that will allow us to “breathe easy” again. Is this where you are today? Is your attitude one of simply waiting out the slump and surviving to play the game another day the same way we always did? One of the grand...