Two men were given the task to provide water for two small villages. There was a river that was not too far from the villages from which they were to get that water. The first man began immediately to fill up his two buckets with water and to carry them back and forth from the river to his village. He worked very hard and diligently and did not let anyone else help him carry the water because the people were not yet "ready". (He was actually insecure and needed to be needed.) The second man did not carry a single bucket. Instead he began making drawings and talking to other people who lived in the village and even in villages far, far away. The first man saw him sitting behind a desk writing and could not understand how he could be so lazy, pushing a pencil while he was working for his village. The second man went away and came back with pipes. With the help of the villagers he placed the tubes and pipes in places where the villagers could get the water themselves. He even ta...
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People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true friends; succeed anyway. What you spend years building, someone may destroy overnight; build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway. Give the world your best anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway. -Mother Theresa
"Your nature is a hard thing to change; it takes time. One of the extraordinary transferences that happen in your spiritual life is not that your character flaws go away, but they start to work for you. A negative becomes a positive: you've a big mouth: you end up a singer. You're insecure; you end up a performer who needs applause. I have heard of people having life changing, miraculous turn-arounds, people set free from addiction after a single prayer, relationships saved where both parties, 'let go, and let God." But it was not like that for me. For all that 'I was lost, I am found', it is probably more accurate to say, 'I was really lost, I'm a little less so at the moment.' And then a little less and a little less again.. That to me is the spiritual life. The slow reworking and rebooting of a computer at regular intervals, reading the small print of the service manual. It has slowly rebuilt me in a better image. It has taken years though, ...
Testimony of a New Life “Hello, my name is Peggy. I am a single mother of three who wants to tell what God has done in my life. For a long time, I have had an on and off relationship with God. I would decide to follow him, but then disappointment would quickly set in and I would reject Him because ‘if He loves me, then why does He let this happen to me?’. I found that I was repeatedly let down by people and running to beer as a source of comfort. It would give me only temporary relief. After drinking too much I would find myself again empty and in the need of something more. I decided that I wanted to give God another chance. It was then that I got a flyer in my mailbox from this church. I really liked its name, New Life, because that is exactly what I wanted, a new life. Since coming here I have connected with God in a very real way. Now I have found a new peace and joy which I did not know before. I know that I can trust in Jesus and am so thankful to Him that He has give...
People come always before our mission or vision statements, values, budgets and our programs. Don't get me wrong, I am all for these things yet as servants (leaders) we need to keep the horse in front of the cart and not the other way around. Here is a quote that explains what I mean. For too long, church leaders have been obsessed with the search for the program, tactic, or strategic plan that delineates a goal, sets out a path, and aligns people in moving toward and realizing a predetermined future . Behind this obsession lurks the continued belief that leadership is not only about defining and shaping a preferred future but also making such a planned future happen. In this sense, no matter what words are used in regard to serving or nurturing, leadership turns into methods of controlling and manipulating others to achieve predetermined ends. In the end, people are ends to a leader's goals. (Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk, The Missional Leader. San Francisco , CA: Jossey-Bas...