What If?

WHAT IF:
• I were the owner of a restaurant, but never ate at it?
• I were the owner of a hotel, but never stayed at it?
• I were the coach of a sports team, but never attended a game?
• I were the leader of a ministry, but never led it?
• I were the pastor of a church, but never attended it?

WHAT IF:
• There was a restaurant convention in town but, as an owner, I didn't avail myself or my team to it?
• There was a hotel convention in town but, as an owner, I didn't avail myself or my team to it?
• There was a sports conference in town but, as the coach, I didn’t avail myself or my team to attend it?
• There was a Childrens/Student/Leadership Ministry conference/event in town but, as a ministry leader, I didn't avail myself or my team to it?
• There was a pastor's/leadership conference in town but, as a pastor/staff, I didn't avail myself or my team to it?

Are you thinking like an OWNER or an EMPLOYEE?
Are you thinking like a SON or a SERVANT?

How you see yourself often determines the words you speak & the actions you take. I would go as far as to say that the way you see yourself is the way others will treat you.

As I've served in ministry & observed business practices...I've learned that we can never stop learning. We must continually position ourselves to learn where we can & when we can.

I've also learned that my actions reveal who I am. This verse has always been powerful to me: Where your treasure is...there your heart will be. (Matthew 6:21)

If the company I work for (which pays my salary & provides my livelihood) succeeds...I succeed.

If the church I attend & serve in (which provides me community, a place to fulfill my calling & spiritual help) succeeds...I succeed...and my family succeeds, too.

When you GRASP this...it's a REVELATION that will affect your actions.

I've always lived my life with this thought, "I must promote what's promoting me." In other words, what ever is adding value to me...I need to make sure I'm adding value to it as well. It's a principle called RECIPROCITY.

I also approach this from another perspective: How can I bring improvements to where I'm at? A lot of times, we get in a rut & need to remind ourselves that we are called to ADD VALUE everywhere we are.

Don't let miscommunication, misunderstanding or misinformation allow you to miscarry your full potential! God wants you to BLOOM where you're planted!

Bring VALUE to the table & be determined to IMPROVE yourself in the process. God will bless you & others in the process.

It's a journey.
One step at a time.
Hit the reset button, but don't give up.

What if you turn your WHAT IF into a WHY NOT?

#BeEncouraged
#YouGotThis

A Coach Believes the Best in You

Marvin Sapp released a great song "The Best In Me" a few years ago.  The lyrics are simple but the message is strong...

He saw the best in me
When everyone else around
Could only see the worst in me

A COACH believes the best in you...a critic always assumes the worst.  Friend, why would you ever listen to a person that believes the worst about you?
There are four types of leaders we need in our lives...

1. Rock Leaders
2. Gravel Leaders
3. Sand Leaders
4. Water Leaders

Each of these leaders have a distinct voice at distinct seasons in our life...

1. Rock Leaders can be abrasive in their communication with you and how they deal with a situation in your life or character. 
2. Gravel Leaders can rub you the wrong way in what they say but they also have walked where you are walking and can identify with where you're at.
3. Sand Leaders will filter you with their compassion, listening skills and understanding.
4. Water Leaders will refresh you when you're dry and thirsty.

Whenever I've been corrected or instructed by a COACH, I know they aren't approaching me  in cruelty but in courtesy.  They VIEW me through the lens of "God's Got a Great PLAN for You!"

However, a critic can almost be compared to a vulture...circling overhead just waiting on you to fail.  Sometimes, in the ministry, a vulture can swoop in looking for a piece of a sermon or a blog that they can rip out of context.  A critic doesn't care anything about the person they are criticizing...they just want to rip you apart with assumptions.

A COACH knows what you're capable of and will push you to a STANDARD even when it's uncomfortable. What profit is it to us if we are allowed to UNDER PERFORM?  A COACH will help us address the areas that we need to improve in but they will do it in such a way that we still feel loved afterward.

Roger Staubach who led the Dallas Cowboys to the World Championship in '71 admitted that his position as a quarterback who didn't call his own signals was a source of trial for him.  

COACH LANDRY sent in every play.  He told Roger when to pass, when to run and only in emergency situations could he change the play (and he had better be right!).  

Even though Roger considered coach Landry to have a "genius mind" when it came to football strategy, pride said that he should be able to run his own team.  Roger later said, "I faced up to the issue of obedience.  Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment and victory."

God says, "I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).  He's made each of us as His "workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which god prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).  He will "equip you with everything good for doing His will" (Hebrews 13:21).

God has had His eye on you since before there was a world.  He put you here to make a difference only you can make - because He never made another one like you.  but so many people miss what they were born to be because they want to stay where it's safe.  And yet, Jesus is there, calling you to aim higher than what you've been settling for.  He wants you to go for the GOLD, not to settle for what's easy but empty.

More and more, my COACHES have stirred me to move out of where it was comfortable to follow HIM in a risky obedience.  Actually, there's no such thing as a risky obedience, only a risky disobedience.  When I've responded and gone with Him where I've never gone before, He has never left me out to dry!

COACH JESUS is calling you to do something big for Him!  He has put COACHES in your life who BELIEVE the BEST in you!

A Coach Will Walk With You

We all need someone speaking into our lives...but we can't be obsessed with everybody who has something to say about our lives.

Teddy Roosevelt said, "It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.  Whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause.  Who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement, and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."

Anyone who leads will have their share of critics.  Criticism isn't all bad.  In fact, God can use your critic to catapult you.

Not everyone will agree with you.  That's OK.  Even your friends will probably disagree with you from time to time.  Again, that' OK.  "The wounds from a FRIEND can be trusted..." (Proverbs 27:6)

Jesus never allowed His critics to direct the course of His ministry.  Jesus surrounded Himself with a great team.  His example tells us that doing ministry ALONE is not only foolish...it's arrogant.  God has placed people in our lives for the purpose of ENCOURAGING and CORRECTING us.

Who should we listen to?  Honestly, there's hardly ever a time when you should listen to a critic...but we should ALWAYS listen to a coach.
  

Critics hardly KNOW you...but a coach has WALKED with you.

When we allow the voices of those who barely know us to influence us...then we are headed down the path of distraction.

This past year, as I watched our UPWARD Football games, I was particularly impressed by the coaching style of Payton Williams.  He took time to teach his players how to play the game better.  He spoke with them on a level they could understand.  His care for their welfare built a TRUST in their reception to his voice.

Leader...as you lead...remember that anyone who walks out in front will get kicked in the hind-end! 

Whatever you do...DO NOT give your valuable time and energy to the person in the stands who is chowing down on cotton candy and a frozen coke and does nothing but yell their opinion the entire time.  Give your time to a TRUSTED COACH who sees you as a human being and is interested in your success.

Paul said, "Although you have 10,000 instructors YET you have not many fathers." (1 Corinthians 4:15)  There are a lot of people speaking...some criticism, some celebration...but I'd say the thing that a COACH has that a CRITIC does not is my RESPECT.
It's a process...

1. Explaining - When we first came to BFWC I felt that I had to explain what God had called me to do and the purpose behind each decision we were making.  I hoped that I could get people to understand the WHY and the WAY.  However, I soon learned that most critics don't want an explanation...they want an argument.  They want the chance to shame you, to speak down to you, to tell you how right they are...and how much you stink.  I learned the hard way that trying to explain everything to everybody is fruitless and pointless.
   
   Don't waste your time trying to explain yourself to anyone who doesn't have the courtesy or the courage to look you in the eye and conduct themselves Biblically.
   
2. Bickering - Avoid arguing.  If you spend all your energy trying to put out the fires of negativity against your church, your ministry, your integrity, etc., all you'll end up with a "he said, she said" situation.  Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:23 to not have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments.  Move on.
   
3. Irritating - Allowing the Holy Spirit to develop Galatians 5:22-23 in your life is a process.  Without the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT in us, we'd end up doing some stupid things out of anger.  When you let anger get the best of you...it will control you.  You'll spend all your time trying to answer your critics rather than really listening to the Lord...which can end up causing you emotional and spiritual damage.
   
   Remember when Paul told the church in Ephesus to NOT let the devil get a foothold? (Ephesians 4:27)  He was trying to help us steer clear from these offenses.
   
   Friend, don't allow the enemy to control you through your critics.  You are called to be on the OFFENSE in the Kingdom of God...NOT the DEFENSE!
   
4. Ignoring - Rid yourself from junk. Delete, remove, ignore and cut it out of your life.  Some people actually think that Facebook and Twiiter are the REAL WORLD and a REAL FAMILY.  They spend their lives distracted in the over indulgence of cyberspace.  When you're working for God, you don't have time to read negativity let alone post it.  Ask yourself this..."would Billy Graham do that?"  If not, then neither should we.
   
   The best way to put out the fires of hatefulness is to pour water...NOT gasoline.  I love what Nehemiah said in Nehemiah 6:1-4 when his critics tried to get him to take his eyes off of the work, "I am doing a great work...and I cannot come down."  Friend...STAY ON THE WALL...there are so many people that need you to stay focused!
   
5. Loving - Jesus wept over Jerusalem...but He also turned over the tables in the temple.  There is a time to respond in boldness but there is also a time to respond with love and compassion.  I prefer the latter.
   
   Remember when the prodigal son came home and the older brother didn't come in the house to meet him?  The father goes outside and pleads with the older brother to come in.  It seems that the older brother (the critic) was just as lost as the younger one.
   
   Loving people with compassion doesn't mean you have to explain everything to them...or even exchange words with them...but simply praying for them and asking God to allow them to come into the house and celebrate what God is doing - even if they don't understand the process.