Reading Recommendations
A common theme God is speaking to me about is "market-place ministry" and each of the books I'm reading or have recently read speaks to that issue in some form. Of course, the Bible tops the list. Besides that there are four books and a daily devotional I highly recommend.
1. The E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. This is a must-read for any entrepreneur/small business owner. It's very well written and clarifies why 80% of new businesses fail within the first 5 years.
2. Os Guinness' classic The Greatest Salesman in the World - an awesome book that clearly presents the truth that "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." It's creatively written, very practical, and insightful.
3. I'm just a few chapters into Anointed for Business by Ed Silvoso and it's very powerful. Let me give you one example:
The first picture we have of the disciples is in the marketplace where Jesus met them. Peter and Andrew, professional fishermen, were busy casting a net into the sea when Jesus told them to follow Him. Jesus next spotted James and John, partners with their father in a food enterprise - they were mending their nets during a lull in the fishing (see Matthew 4:21-22). Matthew received his calling "while in his tax office" (Matt. 9:9) Nathaniel, whom Jesus saw sitting under a tree, was probably a farmer (See John 1:48). All of the disciples were certainly marketplace people. None of the Twelve was a leader in the Temple or in the synagogue.
Silvoso also writes about Jesus as a businessman - running a succesful carpentry shop. It's fun to picture people eating at a table Jesus made, opening a door his hands crafted, etc.
4. Kim is reading Permission Granted To Do Church Differently in the 21st Century by Graham Cooke & Gary Goodell. The ideas in the Introduction alone are worth the price of the book. The authors reject the idea of an unbiblical distinction between clergy and laity and speak of the importance of widespread participation in worship gatherings so that all believers can contribute significantly to each other's spiritual formation.
Finally, I receive a daily devotional called "TGIF: Today God is First" by Os Hillman. He is really in tune with what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church today. Today's edition includes:
So often we are encouraged to bring people to church. Yet, we see no examples of where Jesus brought people into the synagogue to get them saved or healed. The miracles happened more often in the workplace because that was where Jesus could be found. Jesus had less response and found more resistance in the synagogue than in the workplace. He took the gospel to and modeled the gospel in the workplace. That is where the power of God was manifested. This is not to say we should not bring people to church, only that our priority should be to bring the Church into the workplace, not bring the workplace into the church.
Catching Up
Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I posted.
We're enjoying a great fall. Kim is busy teaching S&S at the "Estep Academy." They love school. Shani is finishing her first soccer season and Seth is finishing his first flag football season this weekend. The one sport I love the most is the only one I haven't coached but that will change next year, and Seth is already looking forward to playing again. He started playing in a community basketball league last week and since the team didn't have a coach, I'm going to help out with that.
I am enjoying lots of opportunities to speak in a variety of settings. I especially love the time I'm getting to spend with the Falcons. Sure is a lot better atmosphere when you're winning!
Thought I'd share a great picture of some people we've been able to touch in Ghana, Africa. We have a partnership with a house church there and were able to purchase some Bibles for them in their native language.
A Big Day for Shani!
Last night at church Shani was baptized. Every day for the last week she would ask, "How many more days?" with great anticipation of this special event. It was a wonderful evening with special friends. As usual, we prayed, celebrated the Lord's Supper, shared scriptures and songs. It was a particularly powerful time of encouragement for all of us as we experienced God's love.
As we worshiped, I felt a great peace and rest that I haven't experienced for a while. We've had some frustrating experiences lately with a computer crashing, lawn mowers not working, etc. Nothing major, just minor aggravations - and all of those things were put into perspective as we celebrated the faith of a child and the love of our Father.
Memorable Days
Birthday...
Seth turned 9 on Saturday. Since I was in MN for the football game, we spent the day together on Wednesday, which was a very special day. He joined me to do a final walk-through with a client at 8:00 am, then we went to the closing at 9:00. He was very patient because he knew we were going to Cabela's next. It was a great time as we looked through the store, had lunch and picked out a sweet pellet gun. We took it home and shot it a few times before we checked out his favorite store in BG. It's a scooter/ 4-wheeler place on S Main St and he's saving his money for a 4-wheeler. It's nice to stop in every once in a while to keep his vision alive! Then we went to the Falcon football practice where the starting long-snapper taught him a few things. I really appreciated Neil working with Seth and I know he enjoyed it. After practice we had an excellent Bible study. We are working through Matthew 25, where Jesus tells three stories about his return. The main focus is that there is no substitute for preparation. So far we've covered the stories that teach we are responsible for ourselves (gotta make sure we have oil in our lamps) and our stuff (doing the best we can with what we have been given). It was a wonderful day.
Sports...
Seth is playing flag football and has had two practices so far. I think he's going to have a lot of fun. We just signed up Shani to play soccer this fall. She is pretty excited about playing and really impresses me with how coordinated she is. I think she got all of her athletic ability from her mom! It's going to be busy the next several weeks with her practices on Mon & Thurs (games on Saturday mornings) and Seth's practices on Tue & Thurs (games on Saturday & Sunday afternoons).
The game in MN was amazing. I've been disappointed with ESPN's lack of coverage since we upset a Big 10 team, which seemed to be the thing to do on Saturday! (Yeah, App State!!). I am learning to be more observant and aware, so as the game was being played I watched and listened and was so impressed with the way the players and coaches related to one another and responded to the circumstances. I think it's going to be a very exciting season!
I love the privilege of spending time with the team and felt an especially powerful anointing to preach at the chapel service Saturday morning. God was speaking and there was a great sense of people receiving His life-giving Word.
Upcoming plans...
Next week I'm going to the state convention for the Ohio Board of Realtors. It will be my first convention and I look forward to the experience, though I am not eager to be away from home.
There was a bit of a mix-up with the scheduling at Rudolph Christian Church so I won't be there this Sunday, but I will be there on Sept. 16. This is going to work out fine since I leave for Columubs on Sunday after Seth's first flag football game.
Though business has slowed down the last couple of weeks, I'm continuing to trust and walk by faith with complete confidence that all of our needs will be met. God has proven Himself over and over and I am trying to take advantage of this time to get a little more rest and spend more quality time with my family.
Hard lessons...
I learned some very valuable lessons Saturday morning. Along with a few friends, I ran the Parkersburg 1/2 marathon for the third time. Just two blocks away from the finish line, I had a heat stroke/heat exhaustion and hit the pavement. I don't remember anything but I was told that an ambulance picked me up and took me to a tent where medical personel gave me 2 IV bags of fluid and pretty much packed me in ice. My temperature was up to 104 and I didn't become conscious until they had given me one complete IV bag. It took quite a while before I started feeling any sense of normalcy.
It was a beautiful day and unusually cool. I made it a point to stop at almost every water station. It should have been the best race day ever. So why did I crash & burn? Two reasons (at least). First, I didn't train as hard as I had for previous races. Lesson: You must train equally as hard for the third race as the first. There is no substitute for preparation and you can't rely on previous victories to win present challenges.
Second, I ran entirely too fast. Due to reason number one, I planned to run 9 minute miles and still finish under 2 hours. At the halfway point, I was at 51 minutes and at mile 10, I was still 4 minutes under a 9 minute pace. Not surprisingly, that was pretty much the last mile marker I remember. Lesson: It's better to walk, if necessary, and finish well than to keep running and burn out.
Of course, the spiritual applications are numerous. I can't rely on yesterday's anointing for today's ministry. It's best to keep in step with the Spirit instead of running ahead. And the most important lesson for me was that God's love for me is not impacted whatsoever by my performance or lack of it. Good lessons. I just wish I hadn't learned them the hard way!
At any rate, I have had a very fast recovery. It was great to preach at St. Mark's this morning then show 5 houses to a client this afternoon. Aside from normal sore legs, I feel great. And a little wiser from the experience.
Life is Good
A lot has been happening since I last posted...
We celebrated Shani's 6th birthday. My little girl is growing up!
Kim is getting ready for school. This will be our second year to home school and I never cease to be amazed at the gift Kim is to all of us.
We recently enjoyed hosting the year-end party for Seth's baseball team. It was a great season and we loved getting to the parents of Seth's teammates.
My parents came for a few days and we had a great time visiting. I am very grateful to have awesome parents who taught by example how to live with godly values and a great work ethic.
I'm spending more time with the Falcons this season and loving it. I will be blessed to speak at all of the game day chapels this season and I'm really looking forward to it.
We've had a lot of great times with friends this summer - our church, Dilbones, Harrises, spending a day at Cedar Point with BGSU coaches and their families, partying with my colleagues at work.
Ministry opportunites are happening every day. It is a beautiful thing to live out the gospel and simply abide in Jesus, wait for Him to open doors and walk through them.
The real estate ministry is very rewarding. God continues to teach me how to live a life of faith (commission sales is a great place to be to learn faith - and patience!) and His favor is evident. He truly is Jehovah Jireh, our Provider.
I continue to preach most Sundays. If anyone is interested, here is where I will be the next few weeks:
Aug 19 - St. Mark's Lutheran, 11:00
Aug 26 - St. John's Episcopal, 10:00
Sept 9 & 16 - Rudolph Christian Church 10:30
Looking ahead to September, Seth will be 9 years old on September 1. He is going to play flag football, Shani is interested in dance lessons, Kim will be busy teaching, and we are going to continue to embrace simplicity as we pursue greater intimacy with Jesus and each other.
Anniversary, etc.
There is so much going on it's hard to know where to start, so I'm just going to throw out some random thoughts...
Last weekend we spent a couple of days at Devil's Lake in MI. It was a trip I won at work and we had a great time. The reason we went last weekend is that Kim and I celebrated our 18th anniversary last Sunday. I often say that, apart from the gift of salvation, she is the greatest gift God has ever given me. I'm learning more and more about how to appropriately treasure such a wonderful gift!
Seth finished baseball season this week. The best thing about playing in the tournaments was the time we got to spend with other parents. We are very grateful that our children have playmates whose families share our values.
Shani is growing up fast and enjoying all the time she can spend with Macee. Their friendship is pretty cool to watch.
We've been having the Falcon football team to our house this summer (in four groups). Tonight Tony fixed an Italian feast for the seniors and we had a very nice time. It looks like I'm going to be doing more with the team this year and I'm looking forward to it. Of course, that means I'll need to say "no" to a few other things, which will be an important thing for Kim and me to discern together.
This is going to be a fun week as far as real estate goes. There are a lot of good things happening and it sure is nice to see how God is providing for our needs. As He has promised, we are on our way to eliminating debt. And we are so thankful.
I've enjoyed riding the motorcycle the last couple of days. The weather has been perfect and it looks like we're going to have another beautiful week.
The one thing I've neglected this week is that I haven't run much. I signed up for another race in August and need to be more disciplined if I'm going to be ready for it.
I have many reasons to be grateful, especially for God's grace and how he reveals Himself through dear friends like R&C, C&S, and the fellowship of the church.
