Thy Kingdom Come In Business

March 18, 2011

Gary J. Borgstede Leadership Insights 1 Comment

In Matthew 6:10, Jesus prayed, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” With that said, I believe that God’s kingdom can actually come and reign in every domain of our society in earth as it is in heaven.  If it’s too hard to believe, perhaps it is so because of how little we actually see of God’s kingdom reflected around us in the different domains of our world.  Nevertheless, God’s kingdom does reign and I believe we can reflect His glory and His kingdom in every domain of our land – including the domain of business!

Leadership Question: Do You Believe The Kingdom Of God Can Be Reflected In Every Domain Of Our Nation?

For me personally, one of the most profound and exhilarating ideas presented in the book, Our Father’s Kingdom, written by Mr. Douglas Layton which identified with the spirit of God in me is found in his introduction.  In the book’s introduction, Mr. Layton frankly states “While righteousness in a nation undoubtedly begins with the commitment of individuals to Christ, more souls and more churches alone will not make it holy.  Godliness comes when a nation’s Christians make it their all-consuming passion to see God’s glory reflected in every domain of the land, its arts, sciences, media, government, schools, businesses, families – in every domain.  Unless they do, their salvation will benefit only them personally, and Christ’s laws and principles will not guide their nation as He intended them to do.”  Wow!  Could it be that this is the reason we do not see the kingdom of God truly reflected in every domain of our country as mentioned by Mr. Layton?  Personally, I believe it is exactly the reason that our nation continues to slide farther and farther away from our Judeo Christian heritage and values.  I think we have unfortunately forgotten how to effectively teach people to practically live the principles and values of our Father’s kingdom in their respective domains of influence outside of our churches and our families.  As a result, far too many Christians lack the practical knowledge and Holy Spirit inspired boldness to bring the values and principles of our Father’s kingdom to their domains of influence in a way that facilitates real transformational change that reflects our Father’s kingdom and His glory in their domain of influence.

Leadership Question: How Do You Reflect The Values And Principles Of The Kingdom Of God In Your Respective Domain Of Influence?

So then how do we practically do this? Personally, I believe that the only way we can do this is if genuine Christ followers make an intentional effort to focus on the entirety of Jesus’ commandment in His Great Commission of His Church as stated in Matthew 28:18-20. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all things [the principles and values of our Father’s kingdom] that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” When we objectively measure how well we are doing as Christians in fulfilling the entirety of the Great Commission, we no doubt have some very effective churches that are adding souls to the Body of Christ and building more churches to do so in the kingdom; however, by the condition of our society in America, it just doesn’t seem that we are being effective in teaching disciples how to observe all things that the Lord commands us in the respective societal domains of our nation.  If we were effective in doing so, I believe our news stories would be different, our movies and films would be different, our government politics would be different, our business practices would be different, our school educations would be different; but sadly, all too significantly often, these domains of influence are not different and they do not reflect the values and principles of our Father’s kingdom nor His glory.  Mr. Layton further states in his book that “When we speak of ‘winning a nation’ or ‘turning our nation back to God,’ we are really speaking about bringing God’s influence, laws, principles, and kingdom authority into each of these spheres. Anything less is less than what God commanded His church to do.” 

Leadership Question: What Are You Doing To Strategically Equip People To Live The Principles And Values Of God’s Kingdom In Your Domain Of Influence?

So if this is what it means to win a nation for the kingdom of God, and I for one most definitely believe it is what it means to win a nation for the kingdom of God, who then is strategically thinking about how to effectively equip the saints of God to practically bring God’s influence, laws, principles, and kingdom authority to each respective domain of societal influence? In order for the values, laws, and principles of the kingdom of God to have real transforming influence in any societal domain, they must be practically lived by the power and authority of God in the context of each respective domain.  To me, this means that apostles especially anointed by God in each respective domain have a spiritual leadership responsibility in the kingdom of God to live the values of our Father’s kingdom in their respective domain and simply teach others to do the same. When the Church effectively equips, engages, empowers, and encourages these apostles to do this in their respective domains, our nation will experience real transformational change in every domain of our land.  In fact, Mr. Layton states that “When the Church is doing its job, the society around it will eventually reflect God’s laws and principles as well.”

Leadership Question: Will You Be Counted With Me In Helping To Reflect And Build The Kingdom Of God In The Marketplace?

Therefore, this means that if you are a Christ follower and you are in business, Mr. Layton says, and I agree, that it is your foremost job to reflect Christ in the marketplace. In Mr. Layton’s other words, he also states that God wants to raise you up as an apostle to the business world! What an extraordinary spiritual reality for people called by God and anointed by Him to lead in the business domain! But God doesn’t stop there, because the Great Commission doesn’t stop there. The spiritual reality of our Father’s kingdom is that He wants to raise up apostles to every sphere of domain influence in our nation and the nations of the world.  Personally, this gets me very excited because it affirms that God has a full-time God-ordained spiritual leadership purpose, destiny, and kingdom responsibility for people in every domain of our nation to build the kingdom of God in their respective domains.  With that said, you can count me all in to help reflect the values and the principles of the kingdom of God in the marketplace.  And I personally invite you to join me to do the same in three simple ways:

  1. Read Kings Come Forth and The Make It Happen Journey written to encourage, engage, equip, and empower business leaders to build the kingdom of God in the business domain.
  2. Help start an annual national prayer movement in business called See You At The Office by coordinating two days of prayer at your office with your colleagues for 2 days during the week of July 14th in response to God’s promise in 2  Chronicles 7:14.
  3. Personally connect with me on LinkedIn and / or Facebook at www.linkedin.com/in/garyborgstede and www.facebook.com/garyborgstede

Together, we can make it happen in Christ and build  God’s kingdom in the business domain! I will look forward to seeing you at the office!

Thy Kingdom Come In Business Copyright 2011, The Make It Happen Learning Institute.  You have permission to reprint the leadership article, Thy Kingdom Come In Business, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

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Grace For Grace

February 20, 2011

Gary J. Borgstede Leadership Insights Leave a comment

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In a personal trial that I’ve been facing for some time, I have come to learn an even greater dependency on the sufficiency of God’s grace and power to sustain me in any life struggle.  As I have prayed to the Lord about this personal matter, I have heard His still small voice whisper to me that “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)  Furthermore, I’ve been led to re-read and further study some devotional messages written by Rick Renner in his Sparkling Gems From The Greek daily devotional book to find comfort from the Word of God during this tough time.  I am so thankful for people in the body of Christ like Rick Renner and even our very own Lee Costello who can translate languages such as Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and maybe some of the Jewish Bible Code…  While I am obviously being playful about Mr. Renner and Lee being able to translate the Jewish Bible Code, please know that I am sincerely most grateful for people like Mr. Renner and Lee because about the only thing I can translate is the word “funga” which means “frown” in Italian.  As a kid when I didn’t get my way about something, I would frown in disappointment and my mom would say just like her Italian grandmother would say, “Don’t give me that funga…”  True story!

Faith Principle #1: God’s Grace And Strength Is Sufficient In Any Situation

Unfortunately, as adults, when things are not going our way, I think we can actually – perhaps without even fully realizing it – give God the “funga face” as we plead with Him about our situation while in reality the Lord has grace that is sufficient for us to remove our “funga” face and even provide the joy of the Lord as strength in the middle of the situation.  So when you and I find ourselves pleading with the Lord and saying things like, “Lord, please take this thing away” or “ I don’t want to deal with this situation” or “I don’t have the strength to deal with this anymore”, we can trust that God’s grace can be sufficient to get us through.  And when this happens, I think it helps to be reminded that we aren’t the only ones who have ever felt like this.  In fact, based on the Bible, we are in some very good company because the apostle Paul and even Jesus faced the same kind of trying situations in their lives.  And the good news is that when Paul and Jesus were at the breaking points in their own real life situations, mentally and emotionally, they found that God’s grace and power was available to sustain them.  

Faith Principle #2: God’s Grace And Strength Is So Powerful That It Holds Everything Together

In fact, do you know that God’s grace holds everything in our world together even when everything seems to be breaking loose around us. The truth is that God’s grace is so powerful that it holds all things together in complete sustainable order including the earth, the planets, the stars, and everything in the universe, down to the tiniest little detail. If not for God’s grace, I believe the whole world would instantly disintegrate into nothing; therefore, we can take great comfort in knowing that God’s grace is so much more powerful than we can ever even imagine and according to the Bible, His grace is totally and completely available to you and me in every life situation, including our weakest life moments.

Faith Principle #3: God’s Grace And Strength Is Always Available

As mentioned earlier, there were indeed times in the apostle Paul’s life when he was weak and he needed the fullness of God’s grace to sustain him.  In 2 Corinthians 12:8-9, Paul writes, “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” According to Rick Renner, the original Greek words for “pleaded or besought” in this passage was the words “para kaleo” which means “one who comes alongside someone, as close as he can get, and then begins to passionately call out, plead, beckon, beg, and beseech that other person to do something on his behalf.”  Therefore, whatever situation Paul had going on in his life, the Bible tells us in this verse that he desperately pleaded with the Lord to remove it from his life and the Lord’s response was an astounding, “My grace is sufficient for you and My strength is made perfect in weakness.”  In the fullness of the Greek, Rick Renner writes in his devotional book that the Lord’s response can be more fully understood as “My grace is more than enough for you. If you will receive it, you will find it will sufficiently endow you with more strength than you need to deal with any situation. My power is always on hand, and available to help you in moments when you are weak and needy.” Wow!  What a wonderful promise from God.

Faith Principle #4:: God’s Grace and Strength Can Be Found Through Prayerful Solitude And Personal Fellowship With God

So then, if God says that this kind of grace and power from Him is available to us when we need it, if we will receive it, then what must we do to receive it.  As I have contemplated this in my personal need for God’s grace and power in my life situations, I believe the Lord has shown me that the way I can best receive His grace and power is in fact the same way that the Lord Himself received the sufficiency of God’s grace and power in His intense time of personal need in the garden of Gethsemane – through prayerful solitude and personal fellowship with the Heavenly Father.  In preparing to go to the Cross, the Lord’s situation was so intense and His flesh was so weak that He actually sweated drops of blood.  However, in His prayerful solitude with His Heavenly Father, He found the grace and power of God to deal with the situation in the power and strength of God and not His own human strength. Furthermore, I am reminded of the verse in Psalm 46:10 which states, “Be still and know that I am God.”  Think about it! Our Heavenly Father says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Frankly, I don’t think there is a more appropriate time to do this than when we are in the middle of a major trial and we need God’s grace and strength to sustain us.  Jesus did this when He needed His Heavenly Father’s grace and strength in His time of need; therefore, we should do the same when we need the sufficiency of God’s grace and strength in the times of our need.  In fact, when Moses encountered God in the burning bush, God identified Himself as the Great I Am That I Am; therefore, I believe in difficult times of intense trial and tribulation, we can find the Lord’s strength in being still and personally knowing the Great I Am That I Am just like Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane. 

Faith Principle #5: God’s Grace And Strength Is A Powerful Fruit Of The Holy Spirit

In fact, after Jesus finished spending some prayerful solitude and fellowship with His Heavenly Father in the garden, 300 to 600 elite fighting soldiers came to find and arrest Him. When they showed up, Jesus asked them, “Who do you seek?” And when they said Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus responded and said, “I Am (He)”, the same words in Greek that God used to identify Himself to Moses in the burning bush as the Great I Am That I Am.  And at that instant, a force so powerful exploded in the garden that every one of the elite soldiers was knocked down to the ground so hard that they fell as if they were dead.  Therefore, make no mistake about it, Jesus was not dragged off like some weak and powerless man.  To the contrary, He made it very clear to everyone in the garden that no one was taking Him to the Cross, but He was rather choosing of His free will to go to the Cross in the strength and power of God’s grace.  Plus, it was the power of the more than sufficient grace of God that kept Him on the Cross to the end.  His staying on the Cross for the salvation of mankind is the ultimate expression of God’s grace and power under control.  And it is amazing to think that that same grace and power under control is available to us through the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Make no mistake about it, when we submit ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit through prayerful solitude and personal fellowship with the Lord, our weakness is turned to meekness – a powerful fruit of the Holy Spirit – which strengthens us with God’s grace and power under control, even in our most trying times of life.  With this kind of grace and power from God available to us through His Holy Spirit, we can rest assured that there is no situation in life that we cannot handle in Christ.  In closing, I leave you with this final thought from the Bible found in John 1:16, “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” Amen!

Grace For Grace Copyright 2011, The Make It Happen Learning Institute.  You have permission to reprint the leadership article, Grace For Grace, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

Building People – A Big Holy Awesome Goal

January 29, 2011

Gary J. Borgstede Leadership Insights , , 1 Comment

When I first joined the leadership team at Church of the King in Mandeville, Louisiana my Senior Pastor asked me a very important question. “Gary, what do we do at Church of the King?” Because I knew this was a very important question and I didn’t want to be the shortest tenured staff person ever on the leadership team, I was nervous as I carefully thought about my answer.  “We build people Pastor Steve”, I responded.  “That’s right Gary! We build people!” exclaimed Pastor Steve. “And I want you to help put in place the professional development processes needed for people to fulfill their potential on our team.”  And with that Big Holy Awesome Goal, I began to work with the members of our team to develop and implement a formal professional development process to support our corporate vision of reaching people and building lives, including the people on our staff.

Leadership Principle #1: Building People Requires Great Coaching Leaders  

Recently, I heard of the Vivian Maier story where a young man discovered that over the course of Vivian’s life, she had taken over 100,000 street pictures which were never developed. As I contemplated this true story, I wondered to myself why would someone take over 100,000 pictures and never share them with anyone.  Could it be that she was afraid of the critique from others?  I’m not sure, but it would not surprise me.  In fact, in the parable of the talents, there was a servant who hid his talents in the ground because he was afraid that his master would be a hard man of critique [Matt 25:24-25].  Or perhaps Vivian Maier suffered the experience of having someone in her life wound her in a way that caused her to never want to risk the vulnerability of sharing her most extraordinary gift and talent – capturing the authentic essence of street life through photography. Either way, it seems sad to me that she would live her whole life and never really share her talent for the benefit of others while she lived.

In an interview, I heard Coach Tony Dungy share a bad experience that he once had with a poor coach when he was a young football player in high school. Being terribly discouraged with his coach, he made the decision to quit the team and never return to football; however, fortunately for him and us, his high school principal took a real interest in him.  So when the principal found out that Tony had quit the team, the principal took the time to speak with Tony and encourage him to never quit on account of someone else, but rather, get back in the game and do what he loved to do – playing football. Just imagine what may have never happened in Coach Tony’s life and ours if his principal didn’t take the time to care about him and be a real genuine life coach to him at a crucial point in his young developing life.  The world may have never seen Coach Tony Dungy become one of the best super bowl world champion football coaches of our time. How thankful we should be for great coaching leaders like Coach Tony Dungy’s principal and Coach Tony Dungy himself!

Leadership Principle #2: Building People Requires A Great Coaching Process

In his book, Becoming A Coaching Leader, Daniel Harkavy states that “Coaching leaders want great people to develop in great ways, and they want to be an integral part of the process.”  To me, that is exactly what it means to be a great coaching leader and is also the reason why it is so important for organizations to have a big holy awesome goal of sincerely developing people through an effective performance review process.  However, to have an effective performance review and people development process, the process must first begin with the establishment of goals and objectives – personal goals that support a person’s life plan and team goals that support their team’s strategic plan.

In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Alice asks Cheshire Cat, “Can you tell me which way I should walk from here?” “Well, that depends a good deal on where you want to get to” said Cheshire Cat.  “I don’t much care where” said Alice.  “Then it doesn’t really matter which way you walk” said Cheshire Cat.  Without having to say much more, this little famous tale rings so true in our own lives when it comes to life planning and strategic planning.  If we don’t care where we are going, then it doesn’t really matter if we develop a plan to get there or not.  However, if we have a destiny and a purpose to fulfill in our lives and in our organizations, then it would be very wise to take the time to write down the vision and establish the necessary goals and objectives that will help us get there just as the Bible commands in Habakkuk 2:2.  Unfortunately though, most people don’t like to do this and therefore they don’t.

To me, it’s kind of like choosing to take the stairs or to take the escalators when going to another level in a department store.  I’m told that less than 10% of people will actually take the stairs when there are escalators available because people prefer to take the easy way to the top. When it comes to our goals, people are the same way because less than 10% of people will actually take the time to write down their goals and objectives that support their personal life plans and organizational strategic plans.  But unlike the case of taking the stairs or the escalators to the next level in a department store, there is no escalator or easy way to the top of the next level with our life purposes and our organizational missions.  Writing down our goals and objectives is actually part of the escalator that will take us to the next level and there isn’t really any other intentional practical way to do it.  In fact, it has been shown that people who write down their goals and objectives are much more likely to achieve their goals than those that do not develop such simple discipline and accountability.

Leadership Principle #3: Building People Requires Great Coaching Feedback

Therefore, in order for a person and a team to achieve their goals and objectives, leaders must be intentional about what they want to accomplish in any given year which is why we include a goal setting process for personal and team goals to be reviewed weekly, monthly, and annually through our reporting and professional development process.  To help us do this, we have created the following simple tools to facilitate an effective process:

1)      Goal Templates for Personal and Team Goals

2)      Annual Performance Review and Professional Development Plan Document

3)      Organizational Core Values and Team Values

As it relates to core values, Ken Blanchard teaches that “values are to be lived; not framed”, therefore, it is very important that an annual performance review and professional development process also include a component of review for behavioral alignment with an organization’s values.  In fact, if we don’t include the practical living out of our values in the coaching and development process, but rather only address the technical aspects of people’s personal growth and development, it would be as if we expected people to fly a plane with one wing.  It’s not until we have the courage as leaders to address people’s behavioral development in relationship to our values as well as their technical development in relationship to their job responsibilities that we actually help them grow and develop in a well-rounded way that empowers and equips them to achieve their fullest potential.

Leadership Principle #4: Building People Requires Great Coaching Love For People

And lastly, because Colossians 3:14 (CEV) states, “Love is more important than anything else and it ties everything else together”, we believe the fundamental purpose of any performance evaluation is to speak the truth in love in order to sincerely help people grow and develop.  It’s certainly not to give a pass or fail grade that values and devalues people through a numerical rating system, but rather, an effective life-giving performance evaluation offers the opportunity for great coaching leaders to provide genuine feedback that will help people learn, grow, and develop their extraordinary God-given potential to make a real difference in life.

Question: How does your organization help coach people in developing their extraordinary God-given potential to make a real difference in life?

Building People – A Big Holy Awesome Goal Copyright 2011, The Make It Happen Learning Institute.  You have permission to reprint the leadership article, Building People – A Big Holy Awesome Goal, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

5 Reasons We Can Make It Happen In Faith

January 1, 2011

Gary J. Borgstede Leadership Insights 2 Comments

As a believer in Jesus Christ for more than 20 years, I have learned that some things in life are impossible with men, but with God, all things are possible as stated in Mark 10:27.  Additionally, I have learned that with God I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me as stated in Philippians 4:13.  These two truths are paramount to my faith as I dream big in God and consider the make it happen possibilities of my faith in this new year.  To me, these Scripture verses are huge because they convey the powerful truth that with God I can do anything in Christ that He has called me to do in the power and might of His strength to make it happen in faith this year and each year of my life.  Furthermore, as born-again children of the Living God, I believe we can each make it happen in faith because God is with us and His Word is true.  Therefore, as you dream big in God this new year and consider the make it happen possibilities of actually living your life in faith with Him each day, I pray that the following 5 reasons we can make it happen in faith will engage you at a new level of faith and hope in Christ this year:

Faith Reason #1: God has given us a future, a hope, and a God-ordained destiny to live in faith with Him each day of our lives

  • I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
  • For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
  • Before I [the Lord] formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)
  • Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! (Psalms 139:16-17)
  • Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6-7)
  • But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
  • The smallest of them will become a family. The weakest of them will become a mighty nation. At the right time I, the Lord, will make it happen quickly. (Isaiah 60:22 from GOD’S WORD translation)

Faith Reason #2: God has given us gifts and talents to do good works that glorify Him on earth

  •  Then God blessed them, and God said to them,”Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:28)
  • Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
  • “Most assuredly, I [Jesus] say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. (John 14:12)
  • For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)
  • “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’  His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”  Matthew 25:20-21
  • But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:25)
  • You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. (James 2:24)
  • Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. (Psalms 37:5)
  • The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. (Daniel 11:32)

Faith Reason #3: God has given us His Holy Spirit to lead us, teach us, and strengthen us in our faith

  • And I [Jesus] will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17)
  • But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I [Jesus] said to you. (John 14:26)
  • You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
  • Have I [the Lord] not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)
  • [It’s] ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6)
  • The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. (Psalm 34:7)
  • Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ (Isaiah 41:10)

Faith Reason #4: God has given us overcoming victory in Him to be more than conquerors in Christ

  • What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)
  • Thus says the Lord to you: “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chronicles 20:15)
  • No weapon formed against you shall prosper. (Isaiah 54:17)
  • For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. (2 Chronicles 16:9)
  • The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. (Deuteronomy 28:7)
  • So he answered,”Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16)
  • For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield. (Psalms 5:12)
  • The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. (Proverbs 18:10)
  • We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)
  • Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:37)
  • For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. (1 John 5:4)

Faith Reason #5: God has given us His Word and His authority to make it happen in faith and build His kingdom on earth

  •  And I [Jesus] will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)
  • Again I [Jesus] say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. (Matthew 18:19)
  • For assuredly, I [Jesus] say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  (Mark 11:23)
  • Behold, I [Jesus] give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:19)
  • Your Word [God’s Word] is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. (Psalms 119:105)
  • For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. (2 Corinthians 1:20)
  • God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)

As children of God, surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, fully equipped with the promises of God’s Word and the free gift of His Holy Spirit living inside of us, there is no reason to believe that we cannot dream big in God and make it happen in faith with Him.  In fact, every day that we allow a spirit of can’t to speak into our lives, we give the devil access to steal, kill, and destroy our everyday victory that already belongs to us through overcoming faith in Jesus Christ.  Therefore, please join me in dreaming big in God this year and believing that we can make it happen in faith with Him each day of our lives as make-it-happen people fully equipped with His Word and fully empowered by His Holy Spirit to build His kingdom on earth.

Thank you and have a blessed make-it-happen New Year!

Question:  What is holding you back from dreaming big in God this year and believing that you can make it happen in faith with Him to build His kingdom on earth in your sphere of influence?

5 Reasons We Can Make It Happen In Faith Copyright 2010, The Make It Happen Learning Institute.  You have permission to reprint the leadership article, 5 Reasons We Can Make It Happen In Faith, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

Fighting The Good Fight Of Faith

November 3, 2010

Gary J. Borgstede Leadership Insights 2 Comments

In reading the biblical account about the story of David and Goliath in the 17th chapter of 1 Samuel, we read in verse 40 that David, “took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.”  From this verse and the rest of David’s story leading up to his battle with Goliath, we can learn from David that there are five fundamental faith principles in fighting the good fight of faith in Christ.  To me, the five smooth stones that David chose for battle as he drew near to the giant represent five things we can do to help us effectively fight the good fight of faith in Christ.  The apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:12 that we should fight the good fight of faith; therefore, I’d like to share five practical faith principles that can help us better approach our own spiritual battles and effectively fight the good fight of faith in Christ.

Faith Principle #1: Ignore the false accusations of the enemy.

When David came to the battlefield and saw that Goliath was taunting the armies of the living God, he spoke against Goliath; however, David’s oldest brother became angry with David and falsely accused him of pride and insolence of heart. 1 Samuel 17:26-28 states, “Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, ‘What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel?  For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?’ And the people answered him in this manner, saying, ‘So shall it be done for the man who kills him.’ Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, ‘Why did you come down here?  And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.’  What Eliab was actually saying to David was this.  “Who do you think you are coming down to the battle?  You are nothing but a little shepherd boy who watches a few sheep.  You can do nothing great and you have pride in your heart to come watch the battle.”  But the truth is that David was sent to the battlefield by his father.   He didn’t have pride in his heart.  He actually had obedience in his heart. 

It is important for us to understand that when our Heavenly Father sends us to the battlefield and we show up to fight the good fight of faith in Christ, the devil will become angry with us and he will falsely accuse us.  This is because the devil is the accuser of the brethren and he doesn’t want us to fight the good fight of faith in Christ.  But that does not matter because the devil is nothing but a liar and the father of lies; therefore, we must simply ignore his lies just like David did.  In verses 29 and 30, David says, “’What have I done now? Is there not a cause?’ Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones did.”  Additionally, we must clearly understand that David’s brother was not the enemy.  The enemy was just using his brother to bring discouragement and doubt to him; however, David simply responded by turning the other way and focusing on the cause which is the second faith principle in fighting the good  fight of faith in Christ.

Faith Principle #2: Focus on the cause of the afflicted.

David cared more about fighting the cause of the afflicted than he did about the lies of the enemy.  So when the lies came, David’s heart did not condemn him because his heart was right before the Lord.  1 Corinthians 2:11 says “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?  Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.” David was being led by the Spirit of God to fight the good fight of faith for the cause of God’s people.  In fact, in Psalm 140:12-13, David says, “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted and justice for the poor.  Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence.”  When we stay focused on the cause of the afflicted in fighting the good fight of faith in Christ, we can be confident that the Lord will fight for us because the Lord promises to maintain the cause of the afflicted and justice for the poor.

Faith Principle #3: Build your faith during the wilderness trials of life.

In 1 Samuel 17:33-37, the Bible records that Saul said to David, “’You are not able to go against this Philistine, for you are a youth and he is a man of war from his youth.’ But David said to Saul, ’Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it.  Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.’ Moreover David said, ‘The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’” From the challenges and trials of life that David experienced in the wilderness, he learned how to build his faith and fight the good fight of faith.  In his wilderness battles, David learned that he could completely trust God to deliver him from the hand of the enemy and give him the victory.  We are no different from David.  In our challenging times of life in the wilderness, we too can learn how to build our faith and trust God to deliver us from the hand of the enemy and give us the victory.  In fact, in 2 Timothy 4:18, the Bible says, “And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom.”

Faith Principle #4: Depend upon the armor of God for protection and not the armor of man.

In 1 Samuel 17:38-39, the Bible says, “Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail.  David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them.  And David said to Saul, ‘I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.’ So David took them off.”  David knew that he could not depend on armor that he had not tested in battle so he did not use Saul’s armor.  David only trusted the armor that God had given him to fight the battle and we must do the same thing. God has given us special armor to fight the good fight of faith in Christ.  In fact, the apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:10-13, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”  Additionally, the apostle Paul tells us further that the armor of God includes the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit, and the gospel of peace.  The truth is that we cannot fight the good fight of faith in our own armor nor our own strength.  Zechariah 4:6 states that it is, “’Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.” 

Faith Principle #5: Speak bold words of faith and promise directly to the enemy of your spirit in Christ.

In 1 Samuel 17:45-47, “David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.’” In the power and might of the Lord, David spoke bold words of faith directly to the giant because he knew that the Lord was for him and the giant could not win against him.  When we fight the good fight of faith, we must do the same thing as David.  We must boldly speak words of faith and promise in the power of God’s might and not our own.  The Bible says, “If God be for us, then who can be against us”: therefore, we must believe this awesome promise of God in fighting the good fight of faith in Christ.  Furthermore, in Luke 10:18-20, Jesus says, “I saw satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” As believers in Christ with our names written in heaven, this is really good news!

Fighting The Good Fight Of Faith Copyright 2010, The Make It Happen Learning Institute.  You have permission to reprint the leadership article, Fighting The Good Fight Of Faith, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

Forget About It

September 2, 2010

Gary J. Borgstede Leadership Insights 2 Comments

The other day I was talking with my wife and shared with her that I could prove from the Bible that God is Italian.  You see, while my family has told me that my surname is German, some people have also told me that it is Dutch, and others have even told me that it is Afrikaans; therefore, I am not completely sure which it is.  However, I do know for sure that my grandfather and my great grandfather and all other grandfathers of my grandfather on my mother’s side of the family, well, to say it proudly, they are FBI – Full Blooded Italian.  Now whenever I bring up my Italian heritage with my wife, she expresses a little umbrage over the matter because I think the simple truth is that she’s a little envious of my Italian roots… 🙂

But nonetheless, one morning after my personal devotions in the book of Psalms, the revelation came to me that God most definitely had to be Italian and with such profound revelation bursting inside, I just had to share it with my wife.

“Honey, you would have never thought about it, but I can prove from the Bible that God is Italian!”

“God is not Italian and neither are you” she responded rather smartly as I could still sense a little envy coming over her…but I had to share my extraordinary theological revelation anyway. 

“It’s true baby. You know how Italians in New York end their sentences with ‘Think about it’ (New York accent emphasized)?  Well, God must be Italian because He does the same thing in the book of Psalms.”

So she thought about it…and then she said, “The Italians in New York don’t say ‘Think about it.’  They say ‘Forget about it’ and if you’re Italian, you should do the same.”

So I thought about it and came to the same conclusion.  God has to be Italian because not only does He say ‘Think about it’ at the end of His sentences, but also, after we confess our sins to Him, He forgives us, He cleanses us, and then He says…‘Forget about it!’ 🙂

Isaiah 43:25 “I [God], even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.”

Now obviously, I’ve had some fun with this post and please know that my wife actually does love and appreciate my Italian heritage as well as every other ethnic part of my heritage; however, there are some important leadership insights that I would like to highlight with this playful leadership post.

Leadership Insights:  

1)      Let us enjoy who God created us to be because we are valued by Him.

2)      Let us not take ourselves too seriously because life is too short to live it without any fun.

3)      Let us laugh when it is time to laugh because laughter is good for the heart and soul.

4)      Let us forgive others and ‘forget about it’ because the Lord does the same for us. 

Forget About It Copyright 2010, The Make It Happen Learning Institute.  You have permission to reprint the leadership article, Forget About It, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

Counting The Cost

August 23, 2010

Gary J. Borgstede Leadership Insights Leave a comment

2007 RAAM Start in Oceanside, CA. Photo: Kayvo...

Image via Wikipedia

 

I’d like to share a few leadership insights about counting the cost to finish well.  Recently I was part of an 8-person cycling team that raced across America in the 29th annual Race Across America bicycle race.  It took our team 6 days, 14 hours, and 55 minutes to complete the race and cross the finish line as the 5th place team in the 8-person team division and 14th overall.  As I look at the map and reflect upon what we did, I am still amazed that we were able to finish the race as well as we did.  And I’d like to tell you that from the very beginning, I had no fears or worries at all about completing the race; however, the truth is, I had some significant fears and worries about being able to do it because I had never done anything like that before.  Plus, the fact that the race is actually called the toughest bicycle race in the world, I had a pretty good inclination that it was going to be a huge challenge for me and our team.  In all seriousness, I was very concerned about the challenge of taking 14 people across 14 states, 3,005 miles, 24 hours per day, over 100,000 ft of elevation through the mountains of Colorado and West Virginia, the sweltering hot deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, and the windy plains of Kansas and Missouri from the West Coast of California to the East Coast of Maryland.  In other words, I was nervous about the magnitude of the endeavor and needed to seriously sit down and count the cost of what it was going to take in order to finish the race.    

Do you know that this is something we must all do anytime we want to seriously do something in life bigger than ourselves?  Therefore, I’d like to share with you some of the things I learned about counting the cost to finishing well with any significant challenge.  In retrospect, as I think about the Race Across America experience, I’ve come to realize and appreciate that my fear of starting the journey and potentially not being able to finish it, actually challenged me in some very positive ways and required me to ask myself three very important questions.   

The first question was: “Do I have what it takes to finish the race?    

In Luke 14:28-31, the Lord teaches the principle of counting the cost to finish well by sharing, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it —   lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”  This is a scary thought and I can totally relate to it through my experience with RAAM.  After my friend Scot and I received approval from the Ochsner Executive Leadership Team to sponsor a RAAM team named Team Ochsner to support the fight against childhood obesity, the reality of meeting the RAAM challenge began to soberly set in as we left the executive meeting and walked down the hallway.   Our unspoken thoughts and fear was, “Do we really have what it takes to finish the Race Across America?”   

To adequately answer this question, each of our team members had to consider our foundation of health and fitness as well as develop an effective training plan to build upon it.  You just don’t decide to do Race Across America one day and then the next day get on a bike and ride all the way across America without having a significant foundation of health and fitness.  It really takes years of building a firm foundation of riding capability and physical health to even consider RAAM.  For me personally, it was 10 years of training – 3 years spinning and 7 years riding outdoors.  Additionally, to help me be accountable to my personal training plan and to my team, I began recording my daily training activity with the iMapMyRide training tool as well as sharing it on twitter.  Simply put, accountability for any project or endeavor, big or small, begins when you first tell others that you are going to do something and it continues every day when you daily affirm that decision by your disciplined actions towards completing that project or endeavor.    

Leadership Insight #1: Without a solid foundation, the discipline to build upon that foundation, and the commitment to be accountable to an effective training plan, it really doesn’t make much sense to attempt the achievement of something bigger than yourself.   

The second question I had to ask myself was: “Is God with me in this race?”   

In my walk with the Lord over the years, I’ve learned that things go much better when God is with me; therefore, with the Race Across America challenge, I needed to make sure that I wasn’t going to be picking up a load that God did not want or intend for me to carry alone.  In my prayer time, I had to seek the Lord about this matter and get the green light of His peace to proceed.  James 4:13-16, says “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit?’ whereas, you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.  Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ But now you boast in your arrogance.  All such boasting is evil.”   

For me, embracing the Race Across America challenge was more than just a huge potential accomplishment. It was actually something I felt the Lord leading me to do.  As a result, even though it was a tremendous weight for me to carry, I was well equipped to carry it in the strength of the Lord because I knew He was with me to do the race.  In my spirit, He was softly speaking to me, “From faith to faith, strength to strength, and glory to glory, I will take you.”  With that personal word from the Lord to me, I knew that He would give me the strength and everything else I needed to complete the race, although I still had to trust Him and exercise my faith every step of the way.  And now that the race is over, I can honestly tell you that God was so tremendously faithful and the only reason that we were able to finish so well is because the Lord was with us.    

Think about this.  We rode day and night for 3,005 miles from California to Maryland and we did not have a drop of rain nor did we have any significant head wind. For me, this is a miracle and a true testament to the awesome faithfulness of God and His goodness!  Additionally, while we were in Kansas riding through the plains, one of my team mates decided to ride along with me while the wind was at our backs.  And I can tell you, it was so much better to have the wind at our backs propelling us forward than to have it working against us as a headwind.  Similarly, it is the same way with God for any endeavor purposed in your heart.  It is so much better to have Him with you to strengthen and help you accomplish the endeavor He has put on your heart rather than trying to do something big on your own and God has not given you His grace nor His favor to do it.   

Leadership Insight #2: Don’t dare go if God says no; but in faith go large if God is with you to help push the barge.   

The last question I had to ask myself was: “Who will go with me and what character do they have to meet the challenge?”    

I knew that this race was going to be tough and everyone was going to be tested along the way; therefore, I knew that I needed to choose team mates with the strength of character to withstand the testing and be willing to work together as a team to overcome every challenge and adversity in faith.  Proverbs 17:17 states that “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”  Furthermore, Matthew 7:24-25 says “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” Without much exception, the people on our team were strong believers in Christ which helped us to lift one another up during the tough moments and demonstrate that the foundation of our team was built on a rock of strong character in the Lord.  And when the testing came – and it did – everyone overcame the challenges despite our differences along the way.  There is no doubt about it, without the character and commitment of every person on the team to do their part, stay in faith, and work as a team, the Race Across America would have been an impossible challenge for our team.   And this holds true for any team with dreams and goals bigger than themselves.     

Leadership Insight #3:  Everyone on a team must do their part, stay in faith, and work together as a team to see God do the impossible in and through them as a team.    

All praise, glory, and honor be to the Lord for strengthening my Race Across America team and protecting us every pedal stroke of the way!   

Counting The Cost Copyright 2010, The Make It Happen Learning Institute.  You have permission to reprint the leadership article, Counting The Cost, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved. 

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Spirit Of Inclusion

August 12, 2010

Gary J. Borgstede Leadership Insights 2 Comments

Today I’d like to share with you some leadership insights about the spirit of inclusion – an essential ingredient for building a healthy growing community.  Last week as I was driving to work, a group of bikers passed me on the other side of the highway riding the kind of bikes you don’t have to pedal. As I think back on the Race Across America, it would have been a lot easier if our team would have learned how to ride bikes like this group…with motors instead of pedals.  However, in many respects, that group of riders was very much just like our Race Across America team.  They were all riding bikes, they all had helmets, they were all going in the same direction, and they were all wearing the same shirts.  On the outside, the only real seemingly difference between their team and ours was that they rode bikes with motors while we rode bikes with pedals.  And the thing that caused me to begin thinking about this in terms of community was the fact that each of the bikers in the motorcycle group was wearing the same bright red color t-shirt indicating that they were all part of the same group just like the really cool team uniforms that my team wore for the Race Across America.

When our 8 person riding team had completed the 3,005 mile bicycle race across America in 6 days, 14 hours, and 55 minutes, we were given the opportunity for the entire team to parade across the finish line together, including our 6 crew members and our two support vehicles.  Although difficult to adequately describe, it was a tremendous experience when our entire team successfully paraded across the finish line as a road tested, RAAM accomplished, 5th place team in the 8-person team division. It is still hard for me to believe that our team successfully rode day and night nonstop over 100,000 feet of elevation through the mountains of Colorado and West Virginia, through the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, the plains of Kansas and Missouri, across 14 different states from the West Coast in Oceanside, California to the East Coast in Annapolis, Maryland.  And I can tell you that the only way we were able to accomplish this huge challenge was to do it together as a team.

It is interesting to me that no matter how young or old someone may be in life, whether it’s a t-ball team, a high school volleyball team, an NFL football team, a group of red hat ladies, or even an informal group of motorcycle riders, people have an inherent desire to belong to a healthy community of people who accept them, embrace them, and help them accomplish something bigger than themselves.  But unfortunately not every group welcomes people and instead of cultivating a spirit of inclusion, some groups cultivate a spirit of exclusion which in the end produces an unhealthy, dysfunctional community. As soon as a group begins to think “us four and no more”, it becomes warped because people are created in God’s image and He thinks of community in terms of inclusion, not exclusion.   Genesis 2:18 states, “And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.’” With that Word, God created Eve as a helpmate to Adam.  Furthermore Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 states that “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.  Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”   It is clear from the Bible that there is great value in friendship and even greater benefit in community.

Think about this reality expressed in our culture through America’s beloved television shows of the past: Andy Griffith had his deputy friend Barney Fife; The Skipper had his little buddy Gilligan; Oscar Madison had his opposite roommate Felix Unger; and even The Lone Ranger had his Indian riding partner Tonto.  And even though these awesome television shows are of a time long past, it is still true today: people need one another to successfully do life. We are all created by God to be in healthy relationships with other people and if we want to become more like Him we need to embrace people into our communities with a spirit of inclusion. In Acts 10:34-36 from the Message Bible, Peter states, “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from — if you want God and are ready to do as He says, the door is open.” So it doesn’t matter who you are, if you want to be part of God’s family, He will welcome and include you in His family.

Have you ever seen a flock of geese with little goslings in their flock?  If so, you may have noticed that there is a lot we can learn from them about real community.  Since we actually do have a little “goose family” on our church property, it’s been fun to watch the little baby goslings follow their “goose parents” all over our property and actually grow up into full-fledged flying geese.  And you know, the way that the little “goose family” has lived together and taken care of their goslings is in many ways similar to the way we take care of people in our spiritual family. 

On the weekends, the Lord will bring lost hurting people into our family so that we can help take good care of them and help them grow up into full-fledged spiritually mature Christ followers. When new people come into church many are born again as babes in Christ needing a lot of care and spiritual development.  As a result, we invite them to go through biblical foundations to learn the Bible and how to feed on the word of God by themselves, just like the momma and poppa geese teach their little goslings how to find food around our ponds.  Then we encourage new people to get connected in a small group with a small group leader to learn how to apply the Bible in real life practical ways in the same way that the mamma and poppa geese teach their goslings how to fly.  And then once new people have been flying in small group long enough to know how to fly on their own, we release them into leading their own small group to help take good care of people and help others grow into full-fledged spiritually mature Christ followers as well.  And this is basically the way we do life together and learn how to fly in our church family.  And because we do not have an “us four and no more” spirit of exclusion in our spiritual family, but rather, have an “us four and many more” spirit of inclusion, the Lord continues to bless our house with growth and favor in our community.

In fact, in John 15:9-17 we can learn straight from the Lord Himself about how to build a healthy community with a spirit of inclusion.   The scripture reads, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.  “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.  This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  These things I command you, that you love one another.”

Therefore, from the Bible, we can learn five specific ways to build community with a spirit of inclusion:

 1.      Love others in the group in the same way that Christ loves you.

John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 2.      Sacrifice personal comforts to make room for new people in the group

John 15:13, states “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”” and Romans 5:8 states, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

3.      Become genuine friends with new people in the group

John 15:15 states that “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

 4.      Intentionally choose to invite new people to the group

John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” 

 5.      Intentionally receive new people in the group as Christ has received you.

Romans 15:5-7 “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.”

In closing, I’d like to emphasize that we should never underestimate the power of inclusion in the family of God as a child of our heavenly Father.  When we embrace others and help them become all that they were created to be in Christ as a child of the living God, there is no telling who they may become or what impact they may have in the world!

Spirit Of Inclusion Copyright 2010, The Make It Happen Learning Institute.  You have permission to reprint the leadership article, Spirit Of Inclusion, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission.  All other rights reserved.

Leaders Make It Happen In Faith

August 3, 2010

Gary J. Borgstede Leadership Insights Leave a comment

Recently, I learned from reading Dr. Myles Munroe’s book, The Principle And Power Of Vision, that there are basically three types of people in the world: 1) those who never seem to be aware that things are happening around them, 2) those who ask, ‘What just happened?’, and 3) those who make things happen.  Of the three types of people mentioned in Dr. Munroe’s book, what type of person would you most rather be as a leader in your home, business, church, and community?

For me the answer is clear.  I want to be a person that can make things happen with a spirit of wisdom and excellence serving people and solving problems that make a difference in life.  And if I had to guess, I’d say that most people would rather be someone who can make things happen too.  Well, the good news is that God gives us the free gift of the Holy Spirit so that believers in Christ can make things happen in the power and might of His strength regardless of the challenges we might face in the process.  In fact, the Lord declares through the prophet Zechariah that “’It’s not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

Furthermore, in the book of Numbers, the Bible shares the story of Joshua and Caleb, two of my favorite Make It Happen people in the Bible.  When Moses sent out 12 spies to spy the Promised Land, 10 spies came back with a bad report and a “can’t do” spirit of fear; whereas, Joshua and Caleb came back with a good report and a “can do” spirit of faith.  I personally like the way the Message Bible records their good report and “can do” spirit of faith in Numbers 13:33 stating, “Let’s go up and take the land—now. We can do it.” Despite the potential challenges and significant adversities they would have to face in the Promised Land, Joshua and Caleb possessed a “can do” spirit of faith believing that all things were possible with God; but unfortunately, they weren’t able to possess the Promised Land until 40 years later because of the “can’t do” spirit of fear among the leaders on their team. 

Therefore, to make it happen with a “can do” spirit of faith, leaders must work diligently in the Lord to create a team culture of empowerment that reaches people and unleashes their extraordinary God-given potential to make a difference in life.  I have personally found that leaders can effectively do this by building teams upon the following nine faith-based Make It Happen team values:

1.      Make It Happen people possess a positive Make It Happen attitude

2.      Make It Happen people are led by servant leaders

3.      Make It Happen people are service enthusiasts

4.      Make It Happen people take calculated risks in the pursuit of excellence

5.      Make It Happen people work extremely hard and have lots of fun

6.      Make It Happen people invest and participate in training and development

7.      Make It Happen people celebrate individual and team accomplishments with abundance mentality

8.      Make It Happen people foster a safe environment of teamwork and mutual respect

9.      Make It Happen people are professionals

Building teams on a foundation of Make It Happen team values will help create an environment where people can flourish and make it happen in life, being all that God created them to be, and doing their part to fulfill the vision and mission of their team. Thanks and have a blessed day!

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