What are you good at?

Quite often my daughter who is 12 years of age, poses stunning yet poignant questions casually that makes me ponder over it and refine my perspective towards the purpose of my existence and my position in Christ. The recent one was "Dad, what are you good at?". Most often to such question we like to surprise the people by talking about our talents, in some cases maybe we want to let others know that we are a good singer, musician, worship leader etc.and surely it makes us feel good, right? 

Now let me make a point here, if such question is from someone who is not your family member, but from your team or anybody who intends to understand your passion and what you are good with, then it is obvious in order to sound impressive you will like to give the best response, which usually consists long explanation in order to create a finest impression about who you are in order to be sellable at some point. What if it comes from someone who is your own like in my case, then you just can't brag to impress who you are, coz they know you.

In business there is something called USP (unique selling proposition), and the definition for the same goes like this, "Your USP is the unique thing that you can offer that your competitors can't. It's your "Competitive Edge." It's the reason why customers buy from you, and you alone". Now as a child of God and if you happen to be in a leadership position, I think the best stand to such question will be what you are good at, not from a personal vantage point, but from others vantage point, i.e. how useful you are to somebody and to everybody. Apostle Paul in one incident beautifully remarks, "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close.". 2 Timothy 4:6 CSB, he further explains drink offering to the context where one can sacrificially commit for the service of others. (Philippians 2:17).

 My long experience in working with Churches of all denomination in India includes integrating the social intervention with their Organization vision and mission. In other words, after hearing from people their desires and all they want to do, I specialize in sketching out a Blueprint for their ministry and a clear road map for their Missions/organization and support along their journey in different capacities. I acknowledge what David in the Bible confesses in 1 Chronicles 28:19 “By the Lord’s hand on me, He enabled me to understand everything in writing, all the details of the plan.”.

Some people immediately would conclude that it’s the business tactics and I am trying to adopt to make a profit out of it. Not true at all, this is my passion for which God has trained me for a very long years in order to be a blessing to Churches and Christian Organization. I connect with professionals who can also join hands with me to work closely with Churches and bring about clarity in their functions, with proper outputs, strategies, linking resources to the Churches/Organization, managing risks and invigorating the theory of Change. For the past two years without any support and demands able to walk beside the various ministries and help to streamline their work to their highest capacity with my personal resources.

If you did not know, Church is the only institution from where we can mobilize the largest volunteers and money (resources) that can eradicate the poverty worldwide. According to the research done by “integrated philanthropy initiative” that states, to accomplish the goal of eradicating poverty by 2035 it will take $73 billion per year for 10 years and it says that amount should be easy to raise from Christians who earn $ 2.5 trillion every year. Does it tell you something?

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1:5 “because our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, in the Holy spirit . . .you know how we lived among you for your benefit”. Let us continue to be able to exist as individuals and as Church for the benefit of others. Let your goodness keep flowing. "For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge.". 2 Peter 1:5 CSB.

Blessings,

In Case you want to refer the article on Early Church Model, Click the link below;

Holistic Approach

Popular yet flawed Opinion- Why disturb the present when it looks good?

Emphasis on Solomon's Temple strategy

Generally, we all desire to reach a point where our livelihood is non-threatening and at the same time assuring safety and comfort. The popular yet flawed belief system that says, why disturb the present which is comfortable and venture to the unknown zone of uncertainty? 

Somewhere we fail to understand that the state and the essence of a product or a group can lose its shape and deteriorate if we are not willing to add value and colors constantly to raise the standard, in order to keep it vibrant and center of attraction. Let me give an example of a product life cycle model which will give a good perspective on what I am desiring to express.

Just as people go through infancy, childhood, adulthood and old age, so do products and brands. And just as we swing from being needy, to being overall contributors to our families or to society, and then back to being needy again over the course of our lives, so – in effect – does our products.

You can use this model to understand the Organization or a Church life cycle. After its inception and rapid growth, the leader or a pastor can get comfortable when it reaches the maturity stage and maintain status quo. The leader/Pastor can fail to realize that it has a decline stage too. If you are not constantly pushing your limits to build and take it to another level, then for sure your organization or church is heading to disaster. 

Your income and resource may keep flowing and needs met but the overall ministry will be affected severely.  Let me remind you the incident where David was demanded 100 foreskins of the Philistines in order to become Saul’s son-in-law, He killed 200 Philistines and brought their foreskin. (1 Samuel 18:27 CSB) David learned to push his limits and always exceeded the expectation.

In order to use your maximum potential and create impact, you need to have a clear strategy thought through prayerfully and well documented. To get this across I would like to use Solomon's Temple model for better understanding.

The Temple Plan

We all know that God did not want David to build the temple, (I Chronicles 28:6) though he already had a strong desire to do so, but he did not stop there, for he had already conceived a full plan in his mind (1 Chronicles 28:12) and therefore instructed Solomon to follow the same. David plan was not just thoughts and some plan in ambiguity but also ensured it is documented with all specificity. It is said, “David concluded, “By the Lord’s hand on me, he enabled me to understand everything in writing, all the details of the plan.” 1 Chronicles 28: 19.

 Understanding the vision of David to build the temple

1.Vision: To build a place of abode for God, A house for God. (1 Chronicles 17:1-2)

2. Formation of organizing structure

Army captain (who manages the war strategy) (18:15)

Historian (who can document the events) (18:15)

Priests (2 priest to manage the spiritual requirements) (18:16)

Court Secretary (To manage the court matters, areas related to justice) (18:17)

Communication and safety (Benaiah was over Cherethites and Pelethites who were couriers and part of king’s bodyguard) 1Chronicles 18:17

Chief Officials: To oversee with the kind and on behalf of the king 1Chronicles 18:17

3.  Communicating the vision to his leadership team (Chronicles 28:1)

4.  Assigned the leader (king Solomon) and delegated the responsibility. 1Chronicles 28:6)

5.  David presented the temple plan as a written document with clear details (1 Chronicles 

     28:19)

6.  Resource management: (1 Chronicles 29 2 As a model David first volunteered to give costly  

    stones from his treasures)

8.  Then challenged people for their support (1 Chronicles 29:5) 

9.  People convinced with the plan offered their resources. (29:9)

10.Requested people for their undivided support to Solomon for this cause (29:19) which people 

     did.

     [Solomon as king takes the first divine assignment.]

11. Solomon by networking with King Hiram got the finest workers in all fields (2 Chronicles 2: 

     1-16)

12. Built proper working structure and a workforce (2 Chronicles 2:17-18)

13. Completion of the divine assignment. (2 Chronicles 5:1)

14. Glory of the Lord filled the temple (2 Chronicles 5: 14).

Does it make sense? Could you as individuals, organization use this model to build the assignments or task you have in your heart?

You may click this link to read  Church Management Strategy published in my last article.

Blessings.

Church Management Strategy!

Be careful to make them according to the pattern you have been shown on the mountain Exodus 25:40.

It is very important to have the vision clarified and specified to micro-level. You cannot have a volatile plan. Our God is the God of specification. Few definition of the Vision statement is as follows:

 >      A vision can be defined as statement about the future, an imagining of something specific that does not exist today.

 > A vision statement provides direction and a target for the church/organization or even individuals.  It is a tool to help the organization fulfill what God has called it to do.  It is the bullseye!1

>       A vision provides focus for the ministry and will enable the leader to keep his followers moving in one direction towards their ultimate goal.

>     An effective leader is able to articulate that vision in such a way that everyone understands it and wants to participate in it.

Let me start by posing few questions!

Do you have your vision defined?

How well your people understand your vision and are ready to support

What is the intended outcome? What you want to accomplish?

What are the indicators and milestones?

Do you have volunteers and workers supporting you?

Let me take you through a very crucial analysis of building the vision and making to a reality. God has given each one a specific ministry and a responsibility to deliver may it be to the leader or a common individual. The theme verse talks about the building of Tabernacle which primarily includes the ark, table and lamp stand. I am trying to break this in stages and help us to draw a similar pattern for our specific ministry.  Moses spent forty days and forty nights with God in the mountain where the ten commandments and many other instructions and laws were given. God gives all the specification in terms of building the tabernacle. Here I want to give a little synopsis of what a tabernacle is? The tabernacle of Moses was the temporary place of worship that the Israelites built according to God’s specifications, while wandering in the desert. The word tabernacle is a translation of the Hebrew mishkan, which means “dwelling-place.”  The purpose of the tabernacle of Moses was to provide a place where the people could properly worship God.

Moses Tabernacle and Church vision

A call to build Tabernacle	Response	Church/organization vision
A clear vision with specification of the tabernacle was given to Moses		It is mandatory that a church should have a clear vision for all they want to do  and have specification as to how they will accomplish.
Moses was shown a pattern as to how a tabernacle should look like. (Moses saw the big picture)	Moses shared the vision with the people	The leader/individuals should be able to envision the project/work (to know how it will look like) and build a strategic blue print easy for the viewers to understand
Moses gave a call to bring necessary resources for building the tabernacle (35:5-9)	(35: 21-26) The people started bringing the resource in abundance (35:26 The leaders bought costly stones like Onyx, gemstone and other items)	The Vision should be presented to the people, and then a call to support through resources Note: If the vision is from God and your work is approved people will be stirred to give pour out their resources whatever the condition may be)
Moses gave a call to the skilled worker  (35:10)	(31:1-6 ) God had already prepared skilled workers for this purpose (35:25-26) skilled women came forward.  (35: 30, 32,35 Skilled anointed people with wisdom came forward	Call to raise volunteer and skilled worker. (NOTE if the vision is from God you will find readily available people to support the cause and stand with you)
Moses plan to appoint core leader’s/ skill workers who is able to teach others	(35:34) Bezalel and Oholiab ready to teach others	Appoint and delegate Core leaders who will be in leadership position to manage and ability to teach
The resource management was entrusted	(36:3-4) The skilled workers and leaders found the resource was enough.	Entrust people for resource management. (Set up a core group who can manage this)
	(36:6-7) A call to stop to contributing because they received already over and above.	Stop getting contribution if you reached the goal. (Note: An important principle to learn)
Moses inspected the tabernacle	(39:32) It was perfect they did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses	Set up indicators, Milestones and process for Monitoring & Evaluation
Moses final accomplishment	(35:43 Moses found exact and he blessed them)	Do a final analysis and appreciate the people
The Tabernacle was set up	(40:17) It was set	Set the desired project fully functional
God’s glory revealed	(30:34) “..The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle)	Celebrate the achievement with the people

May the Lord help you to strengthen the Church and built a strong community for Christ.

Blessings.

"You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Jesus

A passage where we find Jesus summarizing the principle and the core message of the entire Bible in two major and equal commandments and i.e. "The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these” Mark 12 29-31. This passage looks so casual, simple, easy, and not at all challenging to an extent most of the time it is brilliantly misinterpreted, sometimes not given much thought to and sometimes ignored too. 

No human being with a fallen nature can possibly love God with all his heart, soul, and strength 24 hours a day. It’s humanly impossible but only through genuine encounter with God and by accepting the savior we are transformed and start desiring more for God.

In the same passage we notice a scribe paraphrases this yet once again and Jesus immediately remarked, "You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (12:34). If you notice the scribe was expressing his complete endorsement to the two supreme commandments and acknowledges that there is no one beside Him and then combining both the commandments, “Love God, and Love others” in one verse equaling the importance of the first and the second. He added further by saying, ‘fulfilling these two commandments are more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.’.

Wow! what an enlightenment. Let me ask you, this includes me too, how close are we to matching up with these two supreme commandments? Are you just like the Pharisees and Sadducee's trying to fulfill the requirements for your personal satisfaction? What does it mean to you to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength without just meeting your spiritual schedules as a mere duty? I want to put my understanding on the four areas briefly. You may meditate too for perfect conviction.

Loving God with all your heart: Our hearts have the capacity to contain the most high God, failing to accept Him can change the space into a trash can, (Dustbin). A regular examination in the light of His word will keep it clean and ability to love Him more. The Bible says the heart is deceitful and desperately sick, (Jeremiah 17:9) A regular check in the light of His word can only keep it pure and invigorate the desire to Love him more.

With all your soul: It is the part of every human being that lasts eternally after the body experiences death. MacDonald said, “You don’t have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” In other words, person hood is not based on having a body. A soul is what is required. Repeatedly in the Bible, people are referred to as “souls” (Exodus 31:14, Proverbs 11:30). It is the part of us that is purified and protected by the truth and the work of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:14). Your soul connects when you connect through Prayer and reading His word with a pure heart.

With all your mind: How much are we informed about the truth and about God's word. Reading is not a one-time spiritual event, the more we read including good books, the more we are edified and inspired, and it helps us to stay connected and love him more and more. Logical consistency is so important and should make sense which will help you to love him because of the conviction in the mind and heart.

With all your strength: Are we physically fit? It is important to be physically disciplined to involve in displaying physical gesture to love God. Bible talks about incidents where people paid homage by falling face down, kneeling, standing long in prayer, in one incident we read Elijah putting his head between his knees and praying and many other gestures besides this is also found. This means you and I should be physically fit and active and that generates vigor and agility to our mind and heart.

The second part of the great commandment, ‘love others as we love ourselves’. This is not confined and conditioned to social connectivity. This is where we understand others genuinely and be available at the point of their need. God's love was always substantiated with extreme giving. Can we seriously realign the way we love God? How close are we to the kingdom of God?

Blessings.

God's Audit- Get prepared

“An unexamined life is not worth living” Socrates

‘God does not call me to be successful; he calls me to be faithful’. Mother Teresa 

As we come to the end of 2018 and prepare to enter into a new year it is good to know where we stand in terms of our relationship with God, the effectiveness of our Church and the impact our ministry has made. Whether we are willing to take stock of the same or not the Bible clearly states that the Church will be measured to see if we qualify His standard. In Revelation 11:1 it says, ‘Then I was given a measuring reed like rod, with these words: “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar and count those who worship there.’. Are you prepared for His audit?

We all know that the Church is the divine strategy instituted by God to propagate the gospel of salvation and the message of love in this world. Sadly, we see many Christians and Churches have defined it very differently according to what suits them. Apostle Paul talks about such groups who have their own way of measuring themselves.  "but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.". 2 Corinthians 10:12 NASB

In 9Marks journal an article on ‘Healthy Church’ defines beautifully what a Church is not and it goes this way, “the church is not a place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual service provider. It's a people - the new covenant, blood-bought people of God. That's why Paul said, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians. 5:25). He didn't give himself up for a place, but for a people.”

While Jesus was on the earth one time was highly disappointed when he literally visited the temple  and looked at everything. (Mark 11:11). In-fact He was infuriated when he saw the prayer house     was made a business center and He vehemently remarked, “is it not written my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves.”. (Mark 11:15).  God is going to measure it again as we see in the book of Revelation chapter eleven.

Today still there is a big gap between the Church and the members whether we want to accept or not.  In some cases, the members are made to believe their job is over when they give their maximum offerings. Unfortunately, Christian faith and many Churches are caught in a web of lies. Are we willing to rectify the same? Church is not a small scale or large-scale business. 

Let’s not forget that the Church is already under the radar of the government, fascist and political groups. Anytime our differences and sub-standard way of operating and functioning will not only disappoint the people around us, but also God. We are nearing the coming of the Lord and He already is in the process of pruning and cleaning. In the book of Malachi God expresses His disappointment as He articulates this, “I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle a useless fire on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the Lord of Armies, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. Malachi 1:10 (CSB)

Christianity is not a survival business, it is all about relationship, commitment and more important, accountability. Both lay people and Church leaders need to be careful that they do not fall short of the standards of God. Let me close this article for this year with a quote by Mahatma Gandhi which says, “I have never been able to reconcile myself to the debaucheries of the Christmas season. They have appeared to me to be so inconsistent with the life and teaching of Jesus Christ.”. May the Lord help us to think in these lines and ask God to make us worthy in order to meet His divine standard and exemplify our faithfulness to Him. 

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Blessings.

Resource: https://www.9marks.org/article/churches-in-india-a-people-formed-for-god/

Jesus needed feedback, how much should you look for?

Simple definition of "Feedback" goes like this, "Feedback’ is used to describe the helpful information or criticism about prior action or behavior from an individual, communicated to another individual (or a group) who can use that information to adjust and improve current and future actions and behaviors."

When something on “Feedback” or “performance review” has to be picked up, then the first reaction would be that this is applicable only in secular organization and multi-national companies and it does not have any place in Christian ministry or Churches. This is definitely not true. People need feedback on their efforts. They have to know where they stand in terms of current performance and long-term expectations.

Feedback enhances effectiveness and helps to reach the point of excellence. Unfortunately, most of the individuals, leaders, churches wouldn’t want it. Either they assume they are already perfect because of the position they hold, or they are not ready to accept from people whom they serve. It is said, “People don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions to be destroyed.”.

Jesus was willing to receive feedback, it is said in Matthew 16:13 Jesus wanted to understand the perspective and opinion of people about Him“. "Who do people say that the son of man is?" And then a pointed question to the disciples about who He is (Matthew 16:15). I have heard sermons on number of occasions from the pulpit and I am sure you would have heard too. But my question is, Is there a mechanism to receive honest structured feedback in Churches, organization? It's not once-a-year or once-every-three-month event. There may be a need to plan the timing to receive formal feedback in the case of Churches or organization in a more structured way; (in a form of feedback form, survey etc.), but informal, simple feedback can be given much more often – perhaps every week or even every day, depending on the situation.

Jesus asked for a feedback, which means God intentionally wanted to set a pattern for us to follow.

Some leaders limit their feedback from their chosen committee, some from people who hypocritically praise the leader for their own personal ends when actually their name or church reputation may be odious in the community. Romans 1:8 NASB says, "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world." The reputation whether positive or negative is up on the air.

Jesus at one time challenged the crowd when he asked this, "Which one of you convicts Me of sin?" John 8:46 NASB. Jesus was the embodiment of perfection and commanded us to be perfect too, as individuals and Churches. "Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48 NASB.

Blessings.

Selective Believing!

Have you noticed that our belief system most of the time revolves around a selected zone? Usually we believe what we want to believe and most importantly, it is based on feelings and our mental state at a particular point of time. But when we go through a difficult phase then it becomes even more hard to hope and think positively. This is not the case in children, their trust level is usually very high.

‘Object permanence’ is an expression used by psychologists of a child’s ability to understand that objects still exist even if they are no longer visible.

It is said up to about four months old, babies don’t have the capacity to believe something exists if they can’t see it. If you hide a toy it no longer exists as far as they are concerned. They reach a stage where if you hide a toy, they will keep on looking for it. They realize that objects exist even when you don’t see them.

This is a sign of Christian maturity: when we continue to believe in God’s love even when we don’t see it or feel it. We remember and recall. As we believe in the sun even when it is not shining, we continue to believe in God’s love even in times of darkness when we don’t feel his love.

I read an incident about Alex Buchanan who was well known as a ‘pastor to the pastors’. He was profoundly deaf in one ear, with only 5% hearing in the other, and one side of his face was paralyzed after he suffered nerve damage during a major surgery. He was once speaking about God’s love and he kept repeating the words, ‘God loves you unconditionally, wholeheartedly and continually.’

When he finished his talk he came up to a renowned leader and said, ‘Do you believe that God approves of you?’ to which the leader responded ‘Actually, I really struggle with that because I know things about myself that mean I find it difficult to believe that God approves of me.’ Alex replied, ‘We all struggle with that. But God wants you to know that he approves of you. He wants you to know he loves you unconditionally, wholeheartedly and continually.’

Yes, it so true that at some point we also struggle when we see things that we expect does not go as we anticipated. We have to trust and believe in His word, be encouraged by the history of His redemption recorded for us in the Bible and not go based on our feelings and context. God said in the book of Jeremiah, ". . .I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you". Jeremiah 31:3 CSB. He is too generous to assign days of misery in your life.

Blessings.