Leadership – Page 9 – Chad Stutzman

September 13, 2014September 13, 2014

Spiritual Fitness

Recently I ran races on back to back weekends. First it was a race called Rough & Rugged which was a 5k cross country, trail, mud kind of race. I finished but was exhausted and struggled along the way. Then the next weekend I ran a 10k on a flat course. Again I finished but struggled and had to reach deep to keep pushing myself. After I finished that second race I made the comment that these races are much harder when you don’t train properly.

You see I had been running once a twice a week in preparation for both of these races. I also did nothing between the two races and I felt it on race day. I know this because at one time I did train hard and went into similar races in much better physical condition. I ran better times and felt better after the races. The preparation I put in made a difference on race day. I was both mentally and physically ready. That was not the case with these last two races.

It is similar in our spiritual lives, when we are staying connected to God and feeding our minds the truth, it is much easier to recognize lies and deal with the difficulties of life. It’s the things we do day in and day out that prepare us for those big moments in life and those small moments that make a big difference. Those crucial conversations, the big decisions, the temptation that comes out of no where or the unexpected tragedy. When we are not training spiritually those things can knock us down and take us out.

So here are some spiritual exercises we can all do to keep fit both spiritually and emotionally.

Pray – This is a very powerful way to train. It has been proven to reduce stress and it’s a great way to express your heart to God. How incredible to know that the God of this universe wants to listen to what is going on in your life right now. Short prayers throughout the day or longer prayer times when you able are great ways to stay spiritually fit. I like to use ACTS when I pray: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication.
Reading the Bible – For some this is a challenge, because they tried it and didn’t understand what they were reading so they gave up. Keep trying, try a different translation, try listening to it, but keep trying. the translation I’ve been reading lately is the New Century Version. I just read through the New Testament in 30 days and am now reading through Psalms in 30 days. You might not be able to read that much so set a goal that works for you. Find a time that you can read for 5-10 minutes and try to stay consistent When you miss a day, just pick it up the next. Pray before you read and ask God to help you understand and to pick something up that he wants to tell you or teach you.
Go to Church – I know that sounds simple, but unless you make that a priority in your life you will only go when it suits your schedule. Today many people only go to church once or twice a month. That’s good but your missing a lot by not going every week. I know life happens and I don’t expect people to be in church every time there is a service, but it should be high on your priority list if you want to be fit spiritually. Find a church that challenges you to grow and get involved. Don’t settle for comfortable, because it’s hard to grow and train and get better when your comfortable.
Volunteer at your Church and in the Community – When you make a commitment to volunteer it gets you out of your comfort zone and into making a difference through the local church and through good local organizations. This is one of the best ways you can grow spiritually. It will help you to serve others and be part of something bigger than yourself. Serving increases your responsibility and develops your character. It also allows you to use your gifts and abilities to make a difference.
Get involved in a group – When you meet with other people to build relationships, learn, and care for each other it stretches you and pushes you to grow spiritually, relationally and emotionally. When you open your life to some other people it brings a new level of accountability and connection that often leads to growth. Find some other men or women or couples that you can get to know better, have fun with, have spiritual conversations and pray with.
Listen to Messages – There is incredible communicators out there. Find someone you connect with and start listening to there messages. Several that I like a lot are Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Jon Weese.
Read – I already mentioned reading the Bible, here I’m talking about reading blogs, articles and books. Some people avoid reading because they hated in in school. I’m not saying you have to read every day, but try to start reading because it’s a great way to get fit spiritually, mentally and emotionally. There are great resources out there that can help you improve your marriage, parenting, finances, work life and build your faith, develop your character and grow your leadership. Here are three books I’m currently reading.

The Top Ten Leadership Commandments by Hans Finzel
The Catalyst Leader by Brad Lomenick
The Cure by John Lynch

I encourage you to pick one or two of the areas I mentioned and start incorporating it into your everyday life. If you do all of those on a regular basis you will grow and become more fit spiritually.

September 3, 2014

Letter From God

What if you received a letter with a return address of Christ: The Universe? We may be afraid, concerned, excited or all of the above. In any case I am sure we would be riveted to the text of this letter. We need to be riveted to the text of the letter Christ wrote through John to the church of Laodicea in Rev. 3:14-22.

It is intensely personal and highly relevant to our search for intimacy. It could have been written to us. Near the end of the letter there is a compelling invitation:

“Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my father. That’s my gift to the conquerors! Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.” Revelation 3:20-22 (Msg.)

Although many times we have taken this passage as being about salvation, the context dictates that it’s actually about a relationship with Christ for those who have already come to know Him.

Christ is standing at the door of our hearts, knocking. The metaphor is powerful. It means that Christ is intentionally, aggressively, passionately pursuing us. There are no qualifiers here. He isn’t speaking to a few select people, but to all the Laodiceans: the weak and the strong, the rich and the poor, those with disabilities and those that are forgotten. Christ portrays Himself as intentionally pursuing intimacy with us.

If Christ makes Himself so accessible, why is it that we don’t open the door? There are at least three reasons for our hesitation:

The First Reason: Fear

Though God does pursue us and though Christ is there knocking, some of us may be afraid to open the door. Many of us have longed for intimacy in human relationships-with our father, mother, or someone else- only to find that our hopes for intimacy were not only dashed and broken but that as we made ourselves vulnerable, we were wounded in the process. We are afraid. We just don’t know if we can trust again.

Thomas Keating, in his book INTIMACY WITH GOD, speaks to this problem:

The Christian’s spiritual path is based on a deepening trust in God. It is trust that first allows us to take that initial leap into the dark, to encounter God at deeper levels of ourselves. And it is trust that guides the intimate refashioning of our being, the transformation of our pain, woundedness, and unconscious motivation into the person that God intended us to be.

Because trust is so important, our spiritual journey may be blocked if we carry negative attitudes toward God from early childhood. If we are afraid of God or see God as an angry father-figure, a suspicious policeman, or a harsh judge, it will be hard to develop enthusiasm, or even an interest , in the journey.

We need to pray , “Lord I want to trust You, Help me to trust you. We need to grasp the truth that God will not disappoint us. He will not abuse us. He will not use us. No one who as ever trusted God and moved toward intimacy has ever ultimately been disappointed – ever.

The Second Reason: Self-Sufficiency

Some of us have the same problem that the Laodiceans had. They were neither hot nor cold, but luke-warm. They were rich and had no material needs, so they thought they didn’t need God. They relied on what they consumed from the material world in order to satisfy, sustain, and secure themselves. Many of us don’t think it is so bad to be self-sufficient, it’s not like being self-centered or self-serving. But it is a big issue to God. Christ said to the Laodiceans that though they had all the stuff, comforts, companions, commodities, they were wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

Wow. God wants us to be rich in the right ways. He wants to fill our lives with truly valuable treasures. He wants us to have His peace, comfort, presence, and power.

The Third Reason: Discontentment

“More. If there is a single word that summarizes American hopes and obsessions, that’s it. More success. More luxuries and gizmos. We live for more-for our next raise, our next house; and the things we already have, however wonderful they are, tend to pale in comparison with the things we might still get.” Laurence Shames

There is that ever-present craving for all that is more, bigger, or better.

He goes on to say this:

“During the past decade, many people came to believe there didn’t have to be a purpose. The mechanism didn’t require it. Consumption kept workers working, which kept the paychecks coming, which kept the people spending, which kept inventors inventing and investors investing, which meant there was more to consume. The system, properly understood, was independent of values and needed no philosophy to prop it up. It was a perfect circle, complete in itself-and empty in the middle.

The Biblical word for satisfaction is the word contentment. We are called to be content with what we have since we have God-and He is fully sufficient. That doesn’t mean we don’t ever want something or that we don’t enjoy a purchase here and there. It means that we are not controlled by the passion to consume. Having Him, we have it all. Anything extra is a bonus.

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:11-13 that he had learned both how to have plenty and how to have little and in both cases to be content. Contentment is not just a reflected in our relationship to things. We can be discontent with our spouse, our job, our place in life, our education, or a long list of other things. Sometimes discontentment can motivate us to righteousness or a zealous commitment to God. This is a healthy kind of discontentment. The kind of discontentment, however, that seeks personal satisfaction and security in “just one more thing, one more experience, one more friendship.” Leads to the emptiness and aloneness.

When we hear Him knocking, it is the trusting, God-sufficient, contented heart that hurries to answer. Opening the door generates the pleasure of experiencing His promise, “I will come right in and have supper with you.”

August 11, 2014

That Church

Recently I had a conversation with some people that attend and volunteer at the church that I work at. As we talked about some of the conversations they had at work and in the community, I heard several times that many of the people they talk to about church say “Oh you go to That Church”. Now I’m guessing that the comment comes from people that are either already going to a church or grew up in church. The reason I say that is because people that are familiar with church tend to have a picture of what a church should be like. I know that I had those same thoughts when I first heard about NewPointe over 17 years ago. I questioned why they did certain things and why they didn’t do certain things. But then I tried it and was changed forever, my picture of church was wrecked in a good way.

When a church comes along that doesn’t line up with our picture of the church we grew up with or currently attend, we will question the validity of that church. Most people’s natural tendency is to poke fun or shoot holes in something they don’t understand.

I actually love that people would say you go to “That Church”. That means that we are getting noticed and people are actually talking about church, maybe in a way that they have not talked before. It leads to spiritual conversations and gets people thinking. There is no perfect church, because there are no perfect people. As a church leader I don’t claim to know it all or have the best way of doing things. I want to create a place where people can connect with God and other people.

So here are some things I love about That Church, otherwise known as NewPointe Community Church:

I love that we accept and love everyone, no matter how they look, act or where they come from.
I love that we speak the truth openly and often and also extend grace openly and often.
I love that we are trying to be a church that unchurched people love to attend.
I love that we are outward focused, wanting to reach as many people as possible.
I love that we try to lead people to take their next step spiritually no matter where they are at spiritually. So no matter where someone is at with God, we want them to take another step closer.
I love that we partner with parents to help children and students grow spiritually.
I love that we are a generous church, giving our time, talent and treasure for God’s work.
I love that our messages are relevant, real and practical.
I love that we focus more on people than on programs.
I love that we use technology to reach people more effectively.
I love that we have a vision to reach Ohio and beyond with the Good News about Jesus Christ.
I love that we are creative and willing to try new and different things to reach and connect with people.
I love that we emphasize leadership and taking responsibility for all our relationships.
I love that we don’t need to put on a mask when we go to church and can be real.
I love that we use music to worship God and that we play it loud.
I love that we are willing to serve our community in practical ways to meet the needs of people and local organizations.
I love that we are willing to partner with other churches and organizations to make a difference in the world around us.
I love that we can laugh in church.
I love that we can drink coffee in church.
I love that we emphasize connecting in small groups and doing life with others.
I love that we deal with conflict directly and speak the truth in love to resolve conflicts.
I love that we know we don’t have all the answers and are willing to learn from others.
I love that people can come and worship God together from all walks of life.
I love my church – That Church!

July 23, 2014

Lessons Learned at Eight Days of Hope

Last week I went on a mission trip to Tupelo MS with the organization Eight Days of Hope. This was the second time I’ve gone on one of these trips with 8DOH. Back in late April of 2014 Tupelo was hit with a devastating tornado. The damage was far reaching and the city is still trying to rebuild and regroup.

Basically 8DOH goes into a community and works with local churches, non-profits and the government officials. They only go to communities that want the help and are open to a Christian organization. They focus on homeowners that are uninsured, under insured or that need help beyond what insurance will pay.

3,023 volunteers from 37 states served at Eight Days of Hope XI. There were around 60 people from NewPointe Community Church that went. We worked on 235 homes, multiple churches and multiple parks. We finished 451 jobs with 159 homes being completed. Three homes were built from the ground up. Total amount of work done exceeded $4.4 million dollars. BUT…the most important thing was we had a chance to share the joy, the hope the love of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Here are some lesson’s from this trip:

Team work is vital in accomplishing big things – This trip showed me once again how important teamwork and unity are in getting a lot of work done. It takes humility, patience and trust to make it all happen. It takes multiple leaders, taking responsibility and working toward the same goal.
When planning and hard work meet up with God amazing things happen – A lot of planning and preparation happened before and during those eight days, but God was invited into the process and He accomplished more than anyone would have expected. God moments happened every day.
Every job is important – I was reminded that every project was important because it touched a person or a family. Whether it was cleaning up a yard, building a fence, roofing a house, building a deck or fixing a door, it’s all important. No job was too small or too big, it all mattered, because it was an expression of love.
It’s important to serve the volunteers and minister to them as well – 8DOH did a great job of serving the 3,000 volunteers and focusing on ministry to the many people that were giving such a significant amount of time and energy. They had programmed times for worship, fellowship, entertainment and free time.
People love to tell their story – I heard several stories from the local people about how this storm had impacted their lives and how 8DOH brought hope back to them and their families. Talking about their story helped the people to move forward and get past the tragic event of the past. I also got to hear stories from other volunteers and got to know them better. Ask questions and find out more about the people around you.
You get to know people much better when you work along side them – on a trip like this you get to see the real person. You get to see them when they are tired, frustrated hungry and uncertain. You also get to see the fun side of people when they let down their defenses and be themselves. I encourage everyone to consider going on a mission trip at some time in their life. Here is a picture of the group from Millersburg:
It’s all because of Jesus – The reason people give up their vacation or personal time to go on a trip like this is because they love Jesus and want to help other people. We are the hands and feet of Jesus and this is one way we as followers of Christ can show love to other people.

I’ve been on many mission trips and every time I have been deeply impacted in a positive way. I have gotten to know other cultures and other people in different parts of the world. I gotten to talk with people I would never have met, if I wouldn’t have taken the risk and decided to go. Maybe God has been nudging you to consider go on a trip like 8DOH or maybe another mission trip. But the cool thing is we don’t need to go on a mission trip to love and serve people. There are many people in our own communities that are in need that we can serve and love and help. All it takes is a willingness to give some time and talent and muscle or to listen and encourage.

If you would like to get involved in changing your local community or want to go on a mission trip, please contact me via email – cstutzman@newpointe.org

June 7, 2014

Summer Time

Summer is a great time of the year. For many families it’s when you take vacation and spend a bit more time together. It’s easier to have social functions with friends, cooking outs, camp fires, camping, outdoor sports and more. I’m on a softball team and love to get away and have fun with some other people.

I remember summer as a kid, not having to go to school and spending long days out exploring my grandpa’s farm. I spent hours looking for arrow heads and flint after the fields where plowed and was even known to go skinny dipping in the creek from time to time.

Summer for me has become a time of building. I try to approach each summer as a time to sharpen myself as a follower of Christ, a husband, a leader and a friend. It’s a time to work on relationships, read good books, plan for the rest of the year and relax and have a little fun.

I try to read a lot, because that is one of the ways I learn and keep my mind sharp. Each summer I try to put together a reading list that I try to knock out over the months of June, July and August. Here is my list for this year:

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield – book about creativity and self-discipline
Sticky Church by Larry Osborn – This book is all about how to help people stay at church and get connected and growing.
Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath – I am reading this one with my staff, it’s a good self awareness book
On My Worst Day: Cheesecake, Evil, Sandy Koufax, and Jesus by John Lynch – Spiritual growth type book, I heard him speak live and immediately bought the book.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman – This book is all about how we thing and why
What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell – Fun read about odd stories and why we do some of the things we do and some of the extraordinary things that happen in our world
The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials For Becoming A Change Maker by Brad Lomenick – leadership development for me.
Great By Choice – Uncertainty, Chaos, And Luck – Why some Thrive Despite Them All by Jim Collins – Another leadership development book from one of my favorite authors. I’ve had the book two years and finally am going to read it.
The Bible – I’m reading through the New Testament as well – Spiritual Growth and Connecting with God.
TBD – I usually find a book or someone recommends a book that I just have to read.

Have a great summer but remember to include some reading. Even if you are not a reader, try to read one book this summer. Reading helps you to focus, use your brain and relieve stress. Reading also feeds you spiritually, emotionally and intellectually. If you want to change, grow or just get better as a person, then start reading. If your into sports you read all the article about your favorite teams, so you can do this – Give it a try this summer.

May 30, 2014

Getting Results

If your in any kind of leadership position, whether leading your family or a major corporation, you want to be productive and get results. You want to see your family communicate and grow closer together and for your children and spouse to develop and grow. You want your company to be profitable and your employees to succeed. You want to deliver on what you promise.

There is always resistance to getting results or productivity. Every day we wake up and that resistance is there to greet us. Here are some of things we must face everyday and overcome in order to be productive and get results.

Procrastination – we can over-analyzing things, and talking ourselves out of doing something. We convince ourselves that we will do it later.
Interruptions – every day we have distractions. Things that are urgent, things that pop up, people that pop in and bunny trails we pursue.
Stress – The higher the level of stress the harder it is to function, make decisions and get results. Stress limits our thinking and allows emotions to overcome us.
Multitasking – No one can actually multitask. Some people are better at jumping from one thing to another, but when you do that, you are distracted and end up not doing either thing well. You also don’t tend to finish things.
Blaming Others – When you start blaming other people it shifts the focus onto things you cannot control. It also distracts you from seeing how you contributed to the problem or allowed it to happen.
Fear – fear can stop us in our tracks and feeds all of the things I mentioned above. Fear of failure, rejection, being misunderstood, not being good enough – those are just a few of the fears that greet us daily.

So what can we do to overcome these forms of resistance and be productive on a consistence basis?

Commit to Excellence – whatever you do, do it the best you can. This is not perfection but doing it right and not cutting corners. When you do it right the first time, you don’t have to go back and do it over later.
Plan – This is probably the most important step. Putting a plan together with clear, specific goals and timelines will help get results.
Focus – People that have the ability to block out all the resistance and distractions and focus for an hour at a time on a project get great results. To keep that focus, take frequent breaks and refresh your mind, then come back to the project.
Do the Hard thing first – If your facing a difficult conversation, complicated problem or hard task, tackle it right away. The faster you accomplish that hard thing, the more productive you will be the rest of the day.
Stick with it – people that get results have the ability to hang in there and keep at it until it’s finished. It’s having the tenacity to work through all the obstacles and keep focused on the bigger picture. It’s showing up every day and doing what needs to be done.

Everyone can improve in this area of productivity and getting results. Think about one thing that if you finished it would bring great results or move you further along as an individual, family or organization. Now go do it.

May 21, 2014

Above the Line

Being healthy emotionally is hard work. It’s easy to fall into a victim mentality and feel like everyone is against you. In their book The Oz Principle, Roger Connors, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman give some clues on when we are stuck in the victim cycle or living below the line.

You feel “held captive” by your circumstances
You feel you have no control over your present circumstances
You find yourself blaming others and pointing fingers
Your discussions of problems focus more on what you cannot do, rather than what you can
You fail to confront the toughest issues you face
You find yourself being “sought out” by others so they can tell you what someone else did to them this time
You find yourself unwilling to ask probing questions about your own accountability
You repeatedly find yourself in a defensive posture
You site your confusion as a reason for not taking action
You avoid people, the meetings, and the situations that require you to report on your responsibilities
You find yourself spending valuable time crafting a compelling story detailing why you were not at fault
You repeatedly tell the same old story about how someone took advantage of you
You view the world with a pessimistic attitude

So how do we avoid this victim mentality? How do we get unstuck from these destructive patterns and habits. The keys are taking responsibility for your own actions and bringing accountability into your life.

According to the authors you can improve your own ability to remain “above-the-line” by watching for the following clues that indicate accountable attitudes and behavior.

You invite candid feedback from everyone about your own performance
You never want anyone, including yourself, to hide the truth from you
You readily acknowledge reality, including all its problems and challenges
You don’t waste time or energy on things you cannot control or influence
You always commit yourself 100 percent to what you are doing, and if your commitment begins to wane, you strive to rekindle it
You “own” your circumstances and your results, even when they seem less than desirable
You recognize when you are dropping “below the line” and act quickly to avoid the traps of the victim cycle
You delight in the daily opportunity to make things happen
You constantly ask yourself the question, “What else can I do to rise above my circumstances and get the results I want?”

Whether at work or at home staying above the the line of accountability is vital to emotional and relational health. When we are below the line we ignore or deny reality, we say it’s not my fault or my job, we point fingers, we say we are confused, we cover our tails and we wait & see. When we are above the line we see the issue, we own our part, we work on a solution and we take action on what we can control.

Make a commitment today to be more accountable and responsible in all your relationships. Work at staying above the line and don’t focus on things that are out of your control. Focus on your own thoughts and behaviors and own your part of the problem. Get help and counsel from others to help keep you above the line. If you do that you will grow in character and leadership and be much healthier all the way around.

April 26, 2014

Lessons From Sheep Shearing

I was watching some video’s on how to shear sheep. It’s pretty interesting, but I’m not ready to give it a try. If you want to watch click here. The reason I was watching the video’s is that I had heard that sheep have to be sheared before summer or they could actually die from the heat. So I started researching this to find out more.

The first time a sheep is sheared it puts up quite a fight and I am sure feels like its in danger. However once they experience what its like after being sheared they are much more cooperative the next time. They soon discover that without all that wool it’s much cooler and they don’t get sick as easily. So the next time they sit quietly while the shearing happens, because they know they are not going to be hurt, but helped.

As I was thinking about that I realized that many of us need to be sheared as well. We have weaknesses that cause us to fail and struggle and overheat/stress out. We need to have the layers of sin, bad attitudes, hurts and hang-ups cut away. But when someone tries to do that we fight and kick and are scared or angry. You see we can’t shear ourselves, we need the help of other people. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” That is the point of accountability, caring enough about another person to respectfully shear away the layers of life.

If you want to be sheared here are three things that must happen:

Take responsibility and admit your weakness – You are the only one that can decide to change or allow someone to shear you. It takes humility and self-awareness to take this first step, but without doing this nothing will change. I believe this is only possible with Gods help, by asking him to reveal the things we need to own and shear, and then asking for the courage to take responsibility.
Raise your expectations for yourself – We talk ourselves into and out of a lot of things. Over the years we tend to lower our standards and accept things we would not have before. In 1 Peter 1:13-16 it says this “So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, ‘I am holy; you be holy.'” So don’t settle for mediocre, God has a greater purpose and plan for your life.
Find a trusted partner – If you really want to change and be sheared, you will need some trusted friends to help along the way. Shearing is not a one time thing, it needs to be done over and over again. It’s the same with us, we need to be held accountable over and over again. That’s why we all need some people that we can confess too, that we can listen too, that we can talk too. If you don’t have someone like this in your life start praying and ask God to bring the right people into your life that can be on your shearing team. Remember after the shearing you will feel so much better, after the confession is great freedom.

The cool thing about this whole process is that when you allow someone else to sharpen you or shear you, you can in turn sharpen and shear them. That only happens when you you are open and honest. If you hide your stuff it can’t get sheared. Happy shearing!

April 16, 2014

Easter

This time of the year is an exciting time as new life springs up with the warmer weather, at least in Ohio. Easter is also an exciting time for Christians as we celebrate Jesus Christ. As we prepare for Easter 2014 I thought I would share some thoughts on the significance of what Jesus did that causes us to be celebrating over 2,000 years later.

Jesus died in our place – This is known as substitution, Jesus subbed in for us. He took our punishment for us. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “He was made sin for me.” and in 1 Peter 2:24 “He bore my sin in his body on the cross.” What happened on the cross was personal. Jesus the perfect, sinless Son of God had your sin put on him. All the garbage, all the junk and ugliness he assumed it all.
Jesus made us right with God – This is known as justification or in legal terms we were acquitted and found not guilty by God the Judge. Acts 13:39 says “Through him (Jesus) everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.”
Jesus made peace with God possible – This is known as reconciliation, which means bringing together two people who have suffered a breakdown in their relationship. Jesus, by his death on the cross, gave us the opportunity to have our relationship with God healed and renewed. 2 Corinthians 5:19 says “God was in Christ, making peace between our world and himself…God did not hold the world guilty of its sins. And he gave us this message of peace.” So Jesus created a new bridge between us and God that had been broken.
Jesus made us a part of God’s family – This is known as adoption, meaning God went through a lot in order to bring us into his family. He considers us as his own children. In Romans 8:17 it says “And since we are his children, we will share his treasures-for all God gives to his Son Jesus is now ours too.”
Jesus purchased our salvation with his blood – This is known as redemption, which means being set free. In 1 Peter 1:18-19 it says this “God paid a ransom to save you from the impossible road to heaven which your fathers tried to take, and the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver, as you very well know. But he paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”
Jesus satisfied God’s justice – This is known as propitiation which means that Jesus completely satisfied or fulfilled all of God’s righteous demands. God demands holiness and perfection and Jesus satisfied that demand. in 1 John 2:2 it says “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Jesus sent our sins away from us – This means forgiveness. In Colossians 2:13 it says “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.” God put all of our sins on Jesus, even though he was innocent and pure. When our sins are put on him, we never see the guilt of them again. God’s forgiveness is final and complete.

So there you have it, that is what Jesus Christ did for us. That is why we celebrate so big during Easter, because all of this is amazing, unbelievable, undeserved and completely free. Salvation is not by works but by grace, it’s not initiated by us but by God and its not an afterthought with God, it is his eternal plan.

March 24, 2014

Encouragement is Incredible

Being positive and encouraging people is more important than you might think. If you want to turn around your workplace, your company, your marriage or your relationship with your children this is the way to do it. Here are some interesting quotes from a great book called How Full Is Your Bucket by Tom Rath:

The number #1 reason people leave their jobs (relationships) is they don’t feel appreciated
Bad bosses (spouses) could increase the risk of stroke by 33%
A study found that negative employees can scare off every customer they speak with-for good
65% of Americans received no recognition in the workplace (home) last year
9 out of 10 people say they are more productive when they’re around positive people
The magic ratio: 5 positive interactions for every 1 negative interaction
Extending longevity: Increasing positive emotions could lengthen life span by 10 years

So it’s clear that the majority of people don’t get the positive reinforcement they need. I believe this is true at work and at home. Some people are just naturally more positive than negative, but all of us can get better at this. Here are a few simple things you can do this week to be more positive or encouraging:

Say Thank-you – this simple gesture goes a long way. Be sincere and specific.
Write a note – hand-written notes take time and are more meaningful than emails or texts
Smile – your face matters
Listen – when you actively listen people feel valued
Slow down – Take some time to actually get to know someone or have a meaningful conversation
Touch – a high-five, knuckle-bump, touch on a shoulder etc sends positive signals. With your spouse this could be a hug, kiss, holding hands etc.

One thing to be aware of as you work on being positive is to be careful what you are taking in. What you watch on TV, what you read, what you listen to, all affect how positive or negative you are. Feed your mind positive good things and you tend to be more positive to other people.

Lead On